Travis Kelce fantasy outlook: Should you pick Chiefs' superstar TE in 2023?

Travis Kelce is a truly unique and insanely valuable asset in fantasy football due to his consistently massive production from a traditionally weak position. While he's officially listed as a tight end, he regularly puts up numbers comparable to any wide receiver in the NFL.

This gives him enormous fantasy value, especially from a positional standpoint.

Tight ends are often the most difficult position to navigate every year in fantasy football and the 2023 NFL season figures to be the same. It's challenging to find consistent production from the weakest fantasy position unless, of course, your fantasy roster includes Travis Kelce.

Travis Kelce's 2023 Fantasy Outlook

Travis Kelce

Travis Kelce has arguably been the most consistently dominant tight end in NFL history. He has exceeded 65 receptions and 850 yards in every season of his career so far, including surpassing 80 receptions and 1,000 yards in each of the past seven consecutive years.

Despite being 33 years old entering the 2023 NFL season, he has shown no signs of slowing down.

In fact, the 2022 NFL season was one of the best statistical years of Kelce's impressive career so far. He posted new career-highs with 110 receptions and 12 receiving touchdowns, while his 1,338 yards were his second-most ever.

The relative uptick in usage likely came as a result of the Kansas City Chiefs trading Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins.

With Hill out, Kelce clearly emerged as Patrick Mahomes' WR1 in the Chiefs' high-powered offense. He should fill that same role once again in 2023, and maybe even more so than last year.

After losing Mecole Hardman and Juju Smith-Schuster during the offseason, their wide receivers may be even weaker. This means Mahomes could potentially target Kelce even more than usual.

It's completely understandable why Travis Kelce is such a popular target in fantasy football. He's one of the most consistently elite players in the NFL, regardless of position, while still having realistic factors that could signal an even larger output this year.

Is Travis Kelce a good pick in Fantasy Football this year?

Travis Kelce

Travis Kelce is not only an excellent fantasy football pick, he's arguably the most valuable overall player to target, regardless of position, league format, and scoring settings.

This prestigious label is reasonable for Kelce due to his absolute dominance over the position he plays.

While other players clearly top their positional consensus rankings, such as Justin Jefferson and Christian McCaffrey, none of them come close to creating the gap that Kelce does.

His positional advantage stands alone, far and away, making whichever fantasy team that selects him the clear choice of best tight end. This is even more true considering the vast majority of leagues only require one tight end in a starting lineup.

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Another popular way to rank players is by putting them into tiers based on their relative production. Kelce is the only player in any fantasy football position that should be placed in the top tier all by himself. Every other position has at least a few players in the top tier, but not tight ends.

While players like Mark Andrews and George Kittle make for strong selections in the position, they shouldn't be put in the same tier as Kelce, who has clearly separated himself from the pack. He has both the highest floor, as well as the highest ceiling, each by a wide margin compared to any other tight end.

Where should you draft Travis Kelce this year?

Travis Kelce

Travis Kelce clearly ranks as the TE1 in fantasy football rankings ahead of the 2023 NFL season. Having him anywhere else in the rankings is simply incorrect, not really a matter of opinion. Taking any other tight end before him in any fantasy draft is a major mistake.

Where he's selected is more relative to the overall ranking of all players, not just tight ends.

Kelce is the only tight end with a current ADP within the first round of all fantasy drafts. Mark Andrews ranks as TE2 and his ADP projects him to be selected around the third round in most formats. Andrews is currently the 28th overall player by ADP, while Kelce ranks 5th.

This means the Kansas City Chiefs superstar has no limit for how early he can be selected in fantasy football drafts.

A legitimate case can be made for Kelce to be chosen with the first overall pick in 2023 fantasy football drafts, and he surely will be in many leagues. Just Christian McCaffrey, Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase, and Austin Ekeler have a higher overall ADP.

While all of them are elite fantasy assets, none give the same positional edge as Kelce does at tight end, making his relative value unmatched.