Former NFL Scout: Travis Kelce Has Slipped (Not Because of Taylor Swift)

Travis Kelce has struggled at times this season, which has come under extra scrutiny given his high-profile relationship with (have you heard?) Taylor Swift.

Still, one former NFL scout believes Kelce's struggles have less to do with Swift and more to do with a much more relatable phenomenon: the Kansas City Chiefs star is getting old.

In a recent interview with Colin Cowherd, former Philadelphia Eagles scout John Middlekauff said the 34-year-old tight end has shown signs of slippage from an athletic standpoint.

"He's kind of looked old this year," Middlekauff told Cowherd. "And part of it, he had a knee injury right before the season started, he's had ankle injuries. He just kind of looks old. And this is the NFL, where you don't always see it coming. He's one of the greatest players of all time, he's one of my favorite players to watch. But he's looked his age a little bit."

Middlekauff added that if Kelce has gone from an A-tier player to a B-tier player, the Chiefs become very reliant on their defense. The Chiefs have the NFL's fourth-ranked defense in terms of defensive yards averaged, but a one-dimensional football team is vulnerable.

"You go against Lamar [Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens], the game could get weird, and all of a sudden you just lose a 19-17 playoff game," Middlekauff said. "That's what I feel like they've opened themselves up to for the first time.

"To me, Travis flying to Taylor, being in love, it has nothing to do with that. It's just, he's a 34-year-old guy with a lot of miles on his body who is starting to get banged up, and whose game is very predicated on athleticism, movement, speed, explosiveness. He just feels a step slower this year."

Several of Kelce's advanced stats are down this year, but perhaps most notable: his yards before the catch are comparable to last year (6.3 in 2022, 5.9 in 2023), but his yards per catch after the reception are down from 5.9 to 4.6.

Kelce has talked slightly more openly about his physical issues this year. In a revealing Wall Street Journal story, which prompted a lot of headlines for his openness about his relationship with Swift, Kelce offered vague insight into his various injuries without naming anything.

"That's the only thing I've never really been open about, the discomfort," Kelce told The Wall Street Journal. "The discomfort. The pain. The lingering injuries—the 10 surgeries I've had that I still feel every single surgery to this day."

Why has Kelce been so guarded? The answer might be opposing NFL teams. On a recent episode of his podcast New Heights, Jason Kelce asked his brother what injury bothered him the most.

"I don't know if I want to say," Travis said. "I don't want to tell, I don't want to give this to defenses."