Former NFL tight end: Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce is ‘perfect’ for Patrick Mahomes
Wesley Walls set a Saints record for tight ends during the 1995 season when he caught 57 passes.
After leaving New Orleans for the Panthers, Walls was chosen for the Pro Bowl in four straight seasons and five out of six. He never had a season with more than 61 receptions and averaged 55 catches in the five Pro Bowl years.
That’s why Walls, who was a guest on the “Upon Further Review” podcast, is awed by the statistics being posted these days.
“Back in the day if you had a 50 catch season, that’s leading the league (among tight ends),” Walls said, “and (the Chiefs’) Travis Kelce had 50 after eight games. With about 12 touchdowns.”
Walls talked about this being the golden era of tight ends, and talked about two of the best in the NFL right now.
“Travis Kelce is just so productive, everybody knows he’s gonna get the ball, and that guy is one of the best route runners out there,” Walls said. “I don’t want to leave out (the 49ers’) George Kittle. He was hurt last year. I like the way he plays, he plays hard and he is fierce on the football field.”
Walls then was asked if he would take Kelce or Kittle if he was starting a franchise. Walls didn’t hesitate and then talked about what a perfect match Kelce is for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“I would take Kelce, no offense to George Kittle,” Walls said. “I still love the 49ers, but what Kelce ... is the perfect combination with Patrick Mahomes. I bet you if they called 10 plays, eight of them end up being some kind of broken version of the play. He may get covered, he may get cut off, Patrick may scramble, he may come off with a ... second or third read, Mahomes is going through his read tree, and he can improvise in all of them.
“He’s the best improviser I’ve seen out there. It’s just hard to cover that guy, especially when Mahomes gets out in space, and you’ve got two threats: You’ve got a running threat and you’ve got a guy in Kelce who can catch and run, too, and he’s really the best at it.”
You can listen to the podcast below:
