Travis Kelce aims to be ‘best tight end’ in Sunday’s Super Bowl against 49ers’ George Kittle

While much of the buzz around Sunday’s Super Bowl is centered on the quarterback matchup — or Taylor Swift — the game will also be a battle of the league’s best tight ends.

This season, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle led all NFL tight ends in receiving yards with 984 yards and 1,020 yards, respectively, according to ESPN.

In Sunday’s big game, Kelce and Kittle each have the chance to be crowned the NFL’s best tight end.

Who is the better tight end: Travis Kelce or George Kittle?

Kittle and Kelce have turned the tight end position into one of the top receiving options on their teams.

Kittle is coming off his third 1,000-yard season in seven seasons. He had the second-most receiving yards among 49ers players in the regular season and playoffs, according to ESPN.

Kelce was just 16 yards shy of his eighth consecutive 1,000-yard season and led his team in receiving yards and receptions in the regular season and playoffs this season, per ESPN.

Is Travis Kelce the best tight end in NFL history?

It’s fair to say that Kelce elevated his status as one of the best tight ends in NFL history with his playoff performances.

In the Chiefs’ first playoff game of the season, Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes passed Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski for most playoff touchdowns by a quarterback-receiver duo, according to the NFL. In the next game, Kelce passed Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice for most playoff receptions, per the NFL.

He can add to those totals on Sunday.

When asked at the Super Bowl media days if he was the best tight end in NFL history, Kelce said he’s focused on outplaying Kittle.

“I’m trying to be the best tight end on Sunday, I know that,” he said, per Vegas Sports Today.

But he didn’t shy away from praising Kittle, calling him the most complete tight end in the league and saying it will “be motivating to try and play better than him” during the Super Bowl.

“When it comes to a complete tight end, I don’t know if there’s another one in the game right now that’s playing at a high level like George Kittle,” he said. “From running routes, to blocking, to what he can do with the ball in his hand and on top of that, how he catapults his team.”

How do George Kittle and Travis Kelce play tight end differently?

At Super Bowl media days, Kittle was asked about the similarities and differences between how he and Kelce play the position by 49ers reporter Grant Cohn.

“I think we both have a pretty similar mentality. We have a standard for ourselves. We want to play at a very high level,” he said. “We just both play it a very different way, but it works for both of us because of the way our offenses are.”

Kelce has set a standard for the modern receiving tight end. He’s fourth on the all-time receiving yards list for tight ends with 11,328 yards, but he’s 3,799 yards shy of the leader, Tony Gonzalez, according to Statmuse.

In addition to putting up great receiving stats, Kittle excels as both a run and pass blocker, which was the position’s original function.

Pro Football Focus has Kittle and Kelce ranked as the top two tight ends, respectively, this season. Kelce narrowly had a higher receiving grade and posted a higher pass-blocking grade (77.5) than Kittle. But the 49ers tight end’s run-block grade (80.1) was nearly double Kelce’s (45.9).

Who was the first tight end?

When the Chicago Bears drafted Mike Ditka in 1961, the position of tight end was changed forever. Up to that point, tight ends primarily served as blockers and extra offensive linemen.

Ditka was one of the first real receiving tight ends, finishing his rookie season with 56 catches for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 12 seasons, he was named to five Pro Bowls and finished his career with 427 receptions for 5,812 yards and 43 touchdowns.

In 1988, he became the first tight end inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.