In the third round of the NFL Draft in April, the Kansas City Chiefs surprised many of their fans by taking Travis Kelce, a tight end out of Cincinnati.
Andy Reid compares rookie TE Travis Kelce to Jeremy Shockey
Kansas City wasn’t seen as a team desperate for a tight end, but they took Kelce anyway because of vast potential.
Streeter Lecka
Kelce was viewed by many as a luxury pick for a 2-14 team who already have Tony Moeaki and Anthony Fasano at the position, but new head coach Andy Reid took him anyway.
Now, Reid says he believes Kelce compares to Jeremy Shockey, according to the Kansas City Star. Kelce doesn't disagree with his new head coach's assessment, per the article:
”I would like to think I’m a different breed of player, someone that can get after a guy in the run game, but at the same time catch a ball and go 80 to the house,’’ Kelce said. “I think the Chiefs are going to get someone who is very versatile and if I had to possibly choose one guy (to compare himself to), I would choose Jeremy Shockey just the way he plays with passion and energy. I think that would be an awesome comparison.”
Kelce was rated by many draft experts as the third-best prospect at his position behind Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert and Stanford's Zach Ertz. The Bearcats star proved to be a very good blocker, by almost all accounts the best blocking tight end in college football last year that was good enough to be drafted.
Shockey was an average blocker, but someone who was known to make things happen as a bruiser after the catch. Over his ten-year career, Shockey amassed over 6,000 receiving yards and 37 touchdowns along with a Super Bowl ring in 2009 with the New Orleans Saints.
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