For the last half-decade or longer, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has constructed a Hall of Fame-caliber resume and established himself as the world’s best at his craft. In recent seasons, though, San Francisco 49ers star George Kittle has managed to generate some buzz of his own.

Following Kelce’s first sub-1,000-yard season since 2015 and Kittle’s first 1,000-yard campaign since 2019, where do both players stand? Likely among the two best in the NFL, although Kelce’s top spot is no longer unquestioned.

In a recent ranking for CBS Sports, Jared Dubin ranked the top 20 tight ends for the 2024 season. Kelce didn’t keep the crown, however, as Kittle landed in the No. 1 spot.

“Kelce is one of the small handful of best tight ends in NFL history,” Dubin wrote. “As we saw during the playoffs, he can still take over games along with Patrick Mahomes. He did have a somewhat down regular season by his standards, though, and the Chiefs are likely to continue managing his workload, taking him off the field more often on first and second downs to save him for passing situations. He was only asked to block on 30.7% of his snaps last season, the fourth-lowest mark among 81 tight ends who played 100 snaps or more. That’s a good thing for him and the Chiefs, but it also holds him back from topping the list for the 2024 season.”

Here’s the rest of the top five behind Kelce and Kittle:

• 3: Mark Andrews (Baltimore Ravens)
• 4: Sam LaPorta (Detroit Lions)
• 5: Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals)

Before last season, it would’ve been foolish to consider Kittle better than Kelce in pretty much any reality. Fantasy football, starting an offense to win a championship or straight-up ranking players would all end with the same pick. With Kelce showing his age last season, it’s now a legitimate conversation again.

Kittle is regarded as a better blocker than Kelce – something that was frequently used in debates centered around Kelce and a prime Rob Gronkowski. Given that, in addition to Kittle notching a career-best 15.7 yards per reception in 2023-24, the gap between the two has been mostly extinguished. Kittle is a dominant force who is coming off an excellent year that saw him match his personal best mark for games played. He turns 31 less than a week after Kelce turns 35, too.

It sure is difficult to bet against Kelce, though. Despite missing two games last season and battling injuries all year long, he was very close to crossing the 1,000-yard threshold and had only one fewer touchdown than Kittle. In the playoffs, he averaged 88.8 yards per game and turned back the clock in a major way. That version of Kelce is still the majority’s best player at the tight end position.

Only time will tell if the Chiefs can get that version consistently in what will be Kelce’s 12th season. Until then, there aren’t many holes in the logic of Dubin siding with a younger player who was just as good, if not a bit better, last season. The fact that Kelce is the NFL’s second-best tight end at the worst is a testament to his sustained success at the highest level.