In 1980, after 11 games, Chargers tight end Kellen Winslow had 878 receiving yards, more than 300 ahead of every other tight end in the NFL. Houston’s Mike Barber (576) and Tampa Bay’s Jimmie Giles (506) were the only other tight ends with even 500 receiving yards. The Oilers other tight end, Dave Casper, was acquired via trade midseason and had just 387 yards at the time. By the end of the year, Casper would finish with the second most receiving yards of any tight end in football, at 796. But Winslow blew him out of the water, with 1,290 receiving yards. That number was second in the entire NFL, but also just second on San Diego in receiving yards behind John Jefferson (and just ahead of teammate Charlie Joiner, who ranked 3rd in the AFC in receiving yards and 4th in the NFL).

Twenty years later, Chiefs superstar Tony Gonzalez had 828 receiving yards through 11 games; Shannon Sharpe (602), Freddie Jones (582) and Kyle Brady (570) were the only other tight ends with 500 yards at that time. By season’s end, Gonzalez would rack up 1,203 receiving yards for Kansas City, nearly 400 yards ahead of every other tight end in the league (Sharpe finished with 810).

Twenty years later, the current Chiefs superstar tight end is threatening to set a new record. Travis Kelce has 978 receiving yards after 11 games, and no other tight end is within shouting distance of him. Raiders TE Darren Waller is second in the NFL with 542 receiving yards, Lions TE T.J. Hockenson has 530, and Chargers TE Hunter Henry has 502 (by NFL fiat, the Chargers must always have a good tight end). Kelce could stop playing today and he’d probably finish the season with the most receiving yards of any tight end. Right now, he has a lead of 436 receiving yards, a remarkable 39.6 yard per game average.

Interesting trivia aside, I didn’t bring up the 20-year intervals at random. Those two seasons represent the largest difference in receiving yards between the top tight end and number two tight end in history. ^[1]I will note that there is some ambiguity in position labels from the early 1960s, and you may be able to argue that say, Mike Ditka had a larger lead if say, you want to quibble with calling Monty  … Continue reading Sharpe’s advantage was 393 yards, while Casper’s edge was a mammoth 494 yards. But Kelce is on pace to shatter that record, and should easily win the receiving TE crown by around 600 yards. It is even possible, if unlikely, that he will have more than twice as many yards as every other tight end in the NFL. Kelce, like Winslow in 1980, is second in the AFC in receiving yards and second on his own team: Tyreek Hill leads all AFC players with 1,021 yards, second in the NFL only to Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf (1,039).

It was only last season that Kelce quietly made history: he led the AFC in receiving yards, the first tight end to lead a conference in receiving yards since 1972. But this year, Kelce looks even more valuable. In part, his dominance is a reflection of the struggles for the other top tight ends in the league. George Kittle missed most of 2020 with an injury, Waller has been hurt by the addition of Nelson Agholor and a more run-heavy offense, Mark Andrews has disappeared with the rest of the Ravens passing offense, and Zach Ertz has gone down with the Carson Wentz ship. But let’s not take anything away from Kelce: He’s been absolutely outstanding for years, and yet might be currently in the middle of his best season ever.