
If you are seeking a way to separate yourself from the pack in your leagues this season, then Travis Kelce can be a redraft league winner for you. The stud tight end finished the 2019 season with 249.9 PPR points.
As Consistent As Can Be
Since his rookie season of 2013, the Cincinnati grad has not had a finish worse than TE8 (2014) and has been the TE1 for four straight seasons. Using DynastyLeagueFootball’s Yearly Data App, we see the consistency cannot be matched.

No other player has even had back-to-back top positional finishes over that time period except for DeAndre Hopkins, who checked in as the WR1 in 2017 and 2018.
How is Travis Kelce a Redraft League Winner?
The position scarcity and consistency alone are almost impossible to replace. For context, the 249.9 PPR points would have put the former Bearcat as the WR9 in 2019. This placed him ahead of the likes of Julian Edelman, Amari Cooper, and Mike Evans.
Name | FPts | G | Snp | SnpPct | Tgt | Rec | ReYd | ReAvg | ReTD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Michael Thomas, NO | 375.5 | 16 | 959 | 88.6 | 186 | 149 | 1725 | 11.6 | 9 |
2. Julio Jones, ATL | 274.4 | 15 | 834 | 76.0 | 156 | 99 | 1394 | 14.1 | 6 |
3. Chris Godwin, TB | 273.3 | 14 | 957 | 92.5 | 119 | 86 | 1333 | 15.5 | 9 |
4. Cooper Kupp, LAR | 270.2 | 16 | 907 | 80.0 | 134 | 94 | 1162 | 12.4 | 10 |
5. DeAndre Hopkins, HOU | 262.5 | 15 | 1000 | 97.1 | 150 | 104 | 1165 | 11.2 | 7 |
6. Keenan Allen, LAC | 259.9 | 16 | 944 | 88.1 | 150 | 104 | 1199 | 11.5 | 6 |
7. Allen Robinson, CHI | 254.7 | 16 | 1025 | 94.0 | 153 | 98 | 1147 | 11.7 | 7 |
8. Kenny Golladay, DET | 250.0 | 16 | 958 | 86.9 | 116 | 65 | 1190 | 18.3 | 11 |
9. Julian Edelman, NE | 247.7 | 16 | 1011 | 87.2 | 154 | 100 | 1117 | 11.2 | 6 |
10. DeVante Parker, MIA | 246.2 | 16 | 914 | 84.2 | 128 | 72 | 1202 | 16.7 | 9 |
11. Amari Cooper, DAL | 245.9 | 16 | 851 | 75.3 | 119 | 79 | 1189 | 15.1 | 8 |
12. Jarvis Landry, CLE | 236.4 | 16 | 1002 | 93.6 | 138 | 83 | 1174 | 14.1 | 6 |
13. Tyler Lockett, SEA | 235.7 | 16 | 1010 | 89.9 | 110 | 82 | 1057 | 12.9 | 8 |
14. Mike Evans, TB | 230.7 | 13 | 810 | 84.4 | 118 | 67 | 1157 | 17.3 | 8 |
15. DJ Moore, CAR | 228.5 | 15 | 925 | 87.3 | 135 | 87 | 1175 | 13.5 | 4 |
Kelce also would have checked in as the RB10 in 2019. This was a better finish than Joe Mixon, Todd Gurley, and Miles Sanders.
Name | FPts | G | Snp | SnpPct | RuAtt | RuYd | RuAvg | RuTD | Tgt | Rec | ReYd | ReAvg | ReTD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Christian McCaffrey, CAR | 469.2 | 16 | 1056 | 93.4 | 287 | 1387 | 4.83 | 15 | 143 | 116 | 1005 | 8.7 | 4 |
2. Aaron Jones, GB | 318.8 | 16 | 677 | 61.2 | 236 | 1084 | 4.59 | 16 | 69 | 49 | 474 | 9.7 | 3 |
3. Ezekiel Elliott, DAL | 315.6 | 16 | 942 | 83.4 | 301 | 1357 | 4.51 | 12 | 72 | 54 | 419 | 7.8 | 2 |
4. Austin Ekeler, LAC | 313.0 | 16 | 609 | 56.9 | 132 | 557 | 4.22 | 3 | 108 | 92 | 993 | 10.8 | 8 |
5. Derrick Henry, TEN | 300.5 | 15 | 602 | 63.0 | 303 | 1539 | 5.08 | 16 | 25 | 18 | 206 | 11.4 | 2 |
6. Dalvin Cook, MIN | 296.4 | 14 | 615 | 65.9 | 250 | 1135 | 4.54 | 13 | 63 | 53 | 519 | 9.8 | 0 |
7. Leonard Fournette, JAC | 261.4 | 15 | 918 | 88.4 | 265 | 1152 | 4.35 | 3 | 100 | 76 | 522 | 6.9 | 0 |
8. Nick Chubb, CLE | 261.2 | 16 | 731 | 68.3 | 298 | 1494 | 5.01 | 8 | 50 | 36 | 278 | 7.7 | 0 |
9. Alvin Kamara, NO | 250.0 | 14 | 636 | 68.5 | 171 | 797 | 4.66 | 5 | 97 | 81 | 533 | 6.6 | 1 |
10. Saquon Barkley, NYG | 244.1 | 13 | 737 | 83.4 | 217 | 1003 | 4.62 | 6 | 73 | 52 | 438 | 8.4 | 2 |
11. Mark Ingram, BAL | 242.0 | 15 | 511 | 48.3 | 201 | 1013 | 5.04 | 10 | 30 | 26 | 247 | 9.5 | 5 |
12. Chris Carson, SEA | 240.8 | 15 | 736 | 70.2 | 278 | 1231 | 4.43 | 7 | 46 | 37 | 267 | 7.2 | 2 |
13. Joe Mixon, CIN | 225.5 | 16 | 661 | 58.9 | 278 | 1138 | 4.09 | 5 | 45 | 35 | 287 | 8.2 | 3 |
14. Todd Gurley, LAR | 221.4 | 15 | 807 | 74.7 | 223 | 857 | 3.84 | 12 | 50 | 31 | 207 | 6.7 | 2 |
15. Miles Sanders, PHI | 218.7 | 16 | 626 | 52.9 | 179 | 818 | 4.57 | 3 | 63 | 50 | 509 | 10.2 | 3 |
To put it into more perspective, only five tight ends finished the season with 200 plus points. There were 18 running backs and 25 wide receivers that accomplished this same feat.
For the year, Patrick Mahomes favorite target averaged 15.62 points per game. Darren Waller was next best at the position with 13.91. You can get that production via the WR17 in 2019 (D.J. Chark).
The amount you can separate from your opponent at this position cannot be overstated. Referring back to the consistency mentioned above and using the Yearly Data App again (position rank chart tab), we see that Kelce only had two games where he did not finish as a TE1 and was, in fact, a top 5 tight end in nearly half of the games played (7) in 2019.

Draft Strategy
Hopefully, you are selecting in the mid to late rounds in your draft. Yes, you miss out on the studs like Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, and Ezekiel Elliott, but you can still grab someone like Dalvin Cook, Derrick Henry, or Mixon.
This then allows you to draft the stud tight end in round two, a WR1 in round three, and a QB1 in round 4. You now have a stud at every position and have already gained a distinct advantage on your league mates. You will also have around two top fifteen players instead of two top twenty four players like you would if you were picking first.
Furthermore, looking at ADP, you could wait even longer on a quarterback and grab one in round five or six and stock up on the limited running back position. This is actually advised with the depth at wideout and quarterback this coming season.

Looking at the ADP from Fantasy Football Calculator, we see the fruitful tight end is going mid to late second round. You may have to reach for him, but the reward will be well worth it.
Conclusion
Travis Kelce is a redraft league winner and should be a major target in round two of all of your drafts. Age is not a concern. Many tight ends produced extremely well into their 30’s. While the 6’5″, 260 pounder will turn 31 during the season, players such as Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, and Jason Witten had TE1 seasons throughout their golden years.

Only Antonio Gates fell off and that can be forgiven seeing that he was 37 and 38 those final two seasons. Do the right thing. Draft Travis Kelce and dominate your redraft league in 2020.
Thank you for reading. You can find some of my other work and thoughts on Twitter @FFJeffSmith and at Dynasty League Football.
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