Should I start Travis Kelce or Isaiah Likely in Week 9?

Where the draft room stands

Live drafts hold no current pick on Travis Kelce, and the board ranks him 59th overall on the rest of his evidence.

Live drafts hold no current pick on Isaiah Likely, and the board ranks him 201st overall on the rest of his evidence.

The market-based projections

The market-based projection for Travis Kelce is 11.1 PPR points a game off 2 markets across 9 market sources. That is 70 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

The market-based projection for Isaiah Likely is 1.8 PPR points a game off 1 market across 8 market sources. That is 30 percent of what a tight end's projection needs, so it is a fragment of one rather than a projection.

Travis Kelce's projection is not complete, so the two figures are not set against each other here.

This season so far

Through Week 8, Travis Kelce has been on the field for 78 percent of KC snaps, drawn 19 percent of the targets and had 4 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 11 of the offence's 58 third down targets, had 0 of its 22 chances inside the five and seen 6 of its 28 two minute targets.

His 42 targets have averaged 6.4 air yards.

In Week 6 against LAC he caught 4 of 5 targets for 53 yards and did not score.

In Week 7 against SEA he caught 4 of 8 targets for 44 yards and did not score.

In Week 8 against DEN he caught 5 of 7 targets for 67 yards and did not score.

Through Week 7, Isaiah Likely has been on the field for 76 percent of NYG snaps, drawn 27 percent of the targets and had 17 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 16 of the offence's 61 third down targets, had 2 of its 13 chances inside the five and seen 8 of its 32 two minute targets.

His 63 targets have averaged 8.0 air yards.

In Week 5 against WAS he caught 11 of 13 targets for 94 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

In Week 6 against NO he caught 6 of 11 targets for 99 yards and scored 1 touchdown.

In Week 7 against HOU he caught 2 of 4 targets for 12 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Travis Kelce played 17 games and scored 193.2 PPR points, 11.4 a game, finishing TE3.

He caught 76 of 108 targets for 851 yards and 5 touchdowns, with 11 red zone targets.

That came to 6.4 targets a game, a 70 percent catch rate and 11.2 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 81 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 Isaiah Likely played 14 games and scored 61.7 PPR points, 4.4 a game, finishing TE45.

He caught 27 of 36 targets for 307 yards and 1 touchdown, with 6 red zone targets.

That came to 2.6 targets a game, a 75 percent catch rate and 11.4 yards a catch.

He was on the field for 58 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Travis Kelce was available for 3 games more.

Head to head

In 2025 Travis Kelce scored 11.4 PPR points a game and Isaiah Likely 4.4, 7.0 a game between them.

Travis Kelce finished TE3 that year and Isaiah Likely TE45.

Travis Kelce had 72 more targets than Isaiah Likely, 108 to 36.

Travis Kelce had 544 more receiving yards than Isaiah Likely, 851 to 307.

This season Travis Kelce holds the bigger snap share, 78 percent against 76 percent.

This season Isaiah Likely holds the bigger target share, 27 percent against 19 percent.

Byes and availability

Travis Kelce is off in Week 5 and Isaiah Likely in Week 8, so either can cover the other's bye.