Has Travis Kelce Always Been a Terrible Blocker? He's Bad Right? \ stacker news ~Stacker

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Has Travis Kelce Always Been a Terrible Blocker? He's Bad Right?

789 sats \ 27 comments \ @kepford 12 Feb Stacker_Sports

Honest question. I think he's a great TE but... haven't watched him a ton. I get a feeling he's overrated. Maybe not though. I watched him during the big game and was kinda surprised by his lack luster performance. He really seemed different to me.

Since then I've seen video of him not blocking for his QB and not really playing hard. Like he gave up. Does he really have a rep of not blocking? He looks pretty terrible on film. Now, I know I'm a Kittle fan and he is famously great at blocking and takes pride in it. Maybe I'm just using Kittle as the ruler and maybe that's not fair.

Also, I loved watching KC get destroyed so factor that in :)

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21 sats \ 0 replies \ @TheMorningStar 13 Feb

KC should settle with Swift now. His time is over. With that being said, I think most sports are just business now and the results mostly decided pre game. This is proven in the case of chiefs losing by not even trying. How came a team that was so dominating, lost all its pulse so suddenly?

184 sats \ 6 replies \ @k00b 12 Feb

Blocking is a lot harder than it looks especially when there's distance and unfavorable angles between you and a rusher. You can't hold, you often have no forward momentum on the line (in contrast to a rusher), and you can't hit from behind. If you get juked or turned the wrong way, the rusher is gone.

A TE is a generalist, an average blocker in most cases, and is often blocking in this unfavorable context.

That said, his blocks during the Super Bowl were especially weak and his behavior made it look like he got embarrassed (or rocked) by Sweat early in the game and lost confidence. Sweat is also the best player in that position in the league (afaict ... based on this one game I watched) so he probably makes everyone look like a fool.

Edit: looks like other people have chimed in who actually know the player

176 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 12 Feb

This is great analysis. I would argue that Sweat is very good player, ranked 28th out of 211 edge rushers, but not the best in the league. He did have a hell of a game though.

18 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 13 Feb

good analysis by someone who thought the super bowl was 10 days ago lol

43 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 12 Feb

Great points. IMO this is why Kittle is so special.

121 sats \ 2 replies \ @k00b 12 Feb

@grayruby I made my ~Stacker_Sports contribution for the year. See you next super bowl :P

59 sats \ 0 replies \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 13 Feb

Did someone take over your account? Blink twice if you’re ok

20 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 12 Feb

Much appreciated.

101 sats \ 0 replies \ @Aardvark 12 Feb

You mean Taylor Swifts boyfriend? I don't think he even sings.

67 sats \ 2 replies \ @Bell_curve 13 Feb

Kittle is a very good blocker but every player on offense has to block in Kyle Shanahan system

18 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford OP 14 Feb

Kittle seems to take pride in it though. Like he's having fun pancaking dudes. What seems rare to me is that he's also a dang good receiver.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 14 Feb

I agree with your statement

If you don't take pride in blocking, you will hate playing for Kyle Shanahan

102 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined 12 Feb

Yes, he stinks at blocking and always has. Maybe, he's gotten worse with age.

Where he does deserve a ton of credit is being the greatest fake blocker of all time. I've seen him pretend to block and then turn around wide open for a catch.

34 sats \ 2 replies \ @kepford OP 12 Feb

lol, that's funny.

76 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 12 Feb

It's not funny when your team plays him twice a year and falls for it over and over again.

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 12 Feb

Indeed, sounds like there's a lot of improvement by defenses...

56 sats \ 1 reply \ @grayruby 12 Feb

Yes but for some reason they fake him blocking and he runs free all the time. You would think by now teams would just ignore him pretending to block.

49 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 12 Feb

Exactly

87 sats \ 2 replies \ @Cje95 12 Feb

I want to say he wasn’t great but wasn’t terrible early on in his career and now he is pretty much a receiving TE and can do some bump blocking but they have Noah Grey for real blocking lol

39 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford OP 12 Feb

That seems like a really dumb approach. But again, I'm used to watching Kittle play and its a joy to watch. Its one thing to fake block but another to not hit people which is what I saw in the Super Bowl.

90 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 12 Feb

Kelce is a huge leader and you can’t just remove and replace that. He’s overpaid for sure but it boils down to what is his leadership worth. Tons of teams employe similar schemes with there TE’s you have blocking specialist who can’t catch to save their life and receiving ones that can’t block

Kelce is a receiving one who can execute basic blocks and thrives on chips to create separation and spreads the defense thin so it works and while he had a down season he’s one of the best at it

109 sats \ 3 replies \ @realBitcoinDog 13 Feb

Look how hard he tried on this play! Hes in the center of the screen #87

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 13 Feb

Hands up and everything like, what are we doing here

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @realBitcoinDog 13 Feb

For real!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nitter 13 Feb bot

https://xcancel.com/nfl_memes/status/1889725412323779032

29 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 12 Feb

Mahomes seemed to be working by contrast.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 13 Feb

I wouldn't say he is a terrible blocker. He is a smart player, great route runner, great hands, above average blocker