Travis Kelce says Kansas City Chiefs rookie is ‘light-years’ ahead of him when he was drafted

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Travis Kelce has a new project tight end that is looking to be mentored by him and he was full of praise about how he slotted into the offense during the offseason program.

The Kansas City Chiefs have considered that they probably have only a couple more seasons with Travis Kelce in the offense before he retires.

The seven-time All-Pro has been bombarded with retirement questions and even said if Andy Reid were to go he would follow suit.

In the offseason, Andy Reid was rewarded with a new deal that sees him through 2029 and Kelce was given a lucrative pay rise to make him the highest-paid tight end in NFL history.

Kansas City Chiefs draft tight end Jared Wiley in the third round of the draft

Understanding that Kelce is approaching the twilight of his career, General Manager Brett Veach called up Jared Wiley in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

The new tight end has been tipped as the potential successor to the Chiefs’ all-time receiving yards leader.

Wiley has stated that he wants to be a ‘fly on the wall’ when learning from Travis Kelce in how he trains and performs.

The Kansas City Chiefs have high expectations for the rookie and he has already impressed the 34-year-old during mandatory minicamp.

In addition, the veteran proclaimed that the rookie had a lot of ‘upside’ during an open interview with the media.

Furthermore, Kelce illustrated how Wiley settled into the offensive schemes much quicker than himself in 2013.

Kelce proclaims that Wiley is better suited to the current offense than he was in 2013

On the latest New Heights podcast, Kelce stated: “I see a lot in Jared Wiley that suits this offense way better than I suited the offense that I was in when I first got here.

“That’s kind of how I initially feel, he’s light-years [ahead of me], he’s way more comfortable running routes and how he’s seeing the field. And I think that is a testament to how smart he is. You put the ball anywhere in the vicinity he’s making plays, he’s got great hands.”

Travis Kelce was full of praise for what he has seen thus far from the rookie in the offseason. Furthermore, the nine-time Pro Bowler claimed that the ‘run-first’ offense based around Jamaal Charles did not suit his style.

Wiley is coming into an offense fixated on using Patrick Mahomes’ generational arm talent to their advantage. Running back Isiah Pacheco receives his volume of reps but the Chiefs try to attack the secondaries as much as possible.

Kelce hints that they will see Wiley’s true potential when they play with pads

Travis Kelce explained that they will have to wait and see Wiley’s true ability when they get the pads out at preseason training camp.

“We’ll slowly start to find out when we got pads on everything that he can do in the run game and on the perimeter, in terms of blocking and really turning into a Swiss army knife like the tight end is used.”

The future is looking bright for Wiley and he has one of the best mentors to learn from in the NFL.

Kelce has revolutionized the position of tight end and has bucketloads of knowledge to pass on to the rookie as the build-up to the 2024 season progresses.