Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who caught the attention of Fantasy owners with his big-play ability in the preseason and showed flashes of it through the first three weeks, finally turned in the performance everyone was hoping to see Week 4 against New England, emerging as quarterback Alex Smith's favorite target after playing just a peripheral role in the passing game earlier in the year.
Is it validation that Kelce is a starting-caliber tight end in Fantasy? I'd say so. He now has two games with 80-plus receiving yards and two touchdowns in a span of four weeks, making him the eighth-best tight end in standard CBSSports.com scoring. That says a lot right there.
But is he so good that you should feel comfortable shopping Jimmy Graham if you happen to own both? I'm not ready to make that leap. For one thing, the Chiefs passing game isn't the most stable in the league. A different player has led the team in targets each week. For another, Kelce doesn't see the field all that much -- at least not like we're used to seeing from the league's top tight ends. He played only 52 percent of the team's snaps Monday, down from 65 percent in Week 3. He played less than 40 percent of their snaps each of the first two weeks.
Because the Chiefs are lacking a standout wide receiver, I believe that number is more likely to rise than fall going forward. But until we see that it is rising consistently, Kelce remains a solid but not especially high-end starter at tight end.