{"id":17867,"date":"2024-12-14T11:49:31","date_gmt":"2024-12-14T11:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=17867"},"modified":"2024-12-14T11:49:31","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T11:49:31","slug":"chiefs-predicted-to-make-major-te-move-prepping-for-life-after-travis-kelce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=17867","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs Predicted to Make Major TE Move, Prepping for &#8216;Life After Travis Kelce&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Travis-Kelce6-e1734144267601.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Travis-Kelce6-e1734144267601.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Travis-Kelce6-e1734144267601.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Travis-Kelce6-e1734144267601.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Chiefs Predicted to Make Major TE Move, Prepping for 'Life After Travis Kelce'\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>Will superstar tight end Travis Kelce retire if the Kansas City Chiefs win their third straight Super Bowl this winter?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Travis Kelce has often told reporters that his plan is to keep playing football until the wheels fall off \u2014 but could the Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 superstar tight end change his tune if KC wins their third straight Super Bowl in February? Especially now that he\u2019s met his potential future wife in Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps. Perhaps not. But while Kelce\u2019s immediate future remains unclear, Athlon Sports draft analyst Luke Easterling predicted that the Chiefs would make another major move in securing his succession plan this April during a round one mock draft on December 5.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s time for the Chiefs to start planning for life after Travis Kelce, who will turn 36 next October,\u201d Easterling reasoned after sending Bowling Green tight end Harold Fannin Jr. to Kansas City as a first-round pick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the best kept secrets in this year\u2019s class, Fannin is putting up ridiculous numbers this season,\u201d the analyst explained, \u201cand his athleticism and versatility would make him the ideal understudy for Kelce.\u201d He concluded that \u201cgiving Patrick Mahomes another explosive weapon at tight end would be a huge win.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Harold Fannin Jr. \u2018Projects Best\u2019 With a Creative NFL Play Caller \u2014 &amp; Chiefs Have Andy Reid<\/h2>\n<p>When sifting through different scouting reports of Fannin, there\u2019s a common theme, the Bowling Green pass-catcher profiles as a dream prospect for a creative offensive play caller. And it just so happens that the Chiefs have one of the best in the game in that regard \u2014 if not the best \u2014 in Andy Reid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFannin Jr. is an offensive weapon who can provide a slew of layers into an offensive playbook,\u201d The 33rd Team\u2019s NFL Draft Lead Kyle Crabbs scouted in early November. \u201cHis natural receiving skills are evident when watching him catch targets and pluck the football with his hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat makes Fannin Jr. a potentially special player is all the other ways he can impact play design,\u201d Crabbs continued. \u201cHe\u2019s been given touches out of the backfield with success and lined up on the perimeter for screen game in addition to his traditional targets and even been given direct snaps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, Bleacher Report draft analyst Dame Parson described Fannin as a \u201chighly functioning pass-catching tight end with alignment versatility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCreative offensive play callers are best if you want to maximize his skill set to its fullest potential,\u201d Parson noted. \u201cHe will be able to generate favorable matchups based on his alignment fluidity. In the right offensive system and role, he can be a top-3 receiving option at the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like Parson, Crabbs agreed that Fannin \u201cprojects best into a personnel-diverse offense run by a creative play-caller.\u201d He added that the youngster\u2019s \u201cversatility offers a doorway to positionally ambiguous football and many clever schemed touches and usage.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Do Chiefs Already Have Travis Kelce\u2019s Successors in Noah Gray &amp; Jared Wiley?<\/h2>\n<p>The odd part about spending a first-round selection on Fannin is that the Chiefs have already invested in two tight ends behind Kelce.<\/p>\n<p>Last April, Kansas City general manager Brett Veach spent a fourth rounder on Jared Wiley \u2014 an upside playmaker at the position with a 6-foot-6 frame. Wiley had the look of a draft steal throughout Organized Team Activities and parts of training camp but played third fiddle to Kelce and backup Noah Gray throughout the regular season.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Wiley tore his ACL at practice on November 1, stalling his development and ending his rookie campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s Gray, a former fifth-round selection and dual threat receiver\/blocker who has become a staff favorite of Reid and company. The Chiefs elected to extend Gray on September 5, ahead of his walk year, offering him $18 million over three seasons.<\/p>\n<p>The role player accepted gladly and has since rewarded KC with a career campaign that\u2019s already produced 399 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>So, while it\u2019s true that the Chiefs value a quality tight end more than the average NFL team, would they really utilize their 2025 first-round pick on the position when they already have Gray and Wiley waiting in the wings? And that\u2019s if Kelce retires.<\/p>\n<p>Kansas City is no stranger to bold moves \u2014 and this would be as bold as it comes \u2014 but a Fannin selection certainly feels unlikely if Kelce announces he\u2019s returning in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Obermuller covers the NFL and NHL for Heavy.com, where he began writing in 2021. His areas of focus include the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins, as well as the New York Rangers and New York Islanders. An NYC area native and Quinnipiac graduate, his previous bylines include FanDuel&#8217;s The Duel, King Fantasy Sports and Pro Football Mania. More about Michael Obermuller<\/p>\n<h2>More Heavy on Chiefs News<\/h2>\n<p>Loading more stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An NFL analyst believes the Kansas City Chiefs will make an unexpected move to replace superstar tight end Travis Kelce in 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chiefs Predicted to Make Major TE Move, Prepping for &#039;Life After Travis Kelce&#039; - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=17867\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chiefs Predicted to Make Major TE Move, Prepping for &#039;Life After Travis Kelce&#039; - 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