How did Noah Gray become the Chiefs’ other top end?

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tight end Noah Gray He wouldn’t be anyone’s first choice among the Kansas City Chiefs prospects to score a few touchdowns in last week’s game against the Buffalo Bills. These two goals were the first goals of the season.

But when you’re the quarterback Patrick Mahomes When he threw the ball to Gray, it was no surprise that he won the game. Mahomes’ throw to Gray is almost always an incompletion.

Gray caught 23 of 26 passes and his 88.5 catch percentage is the highest among NFL players who are not running backs.

“He does everything the right way and he’s learned a lot from it (Travis Kelce) and so he knows how to work within the rules of the offense and how to keep himself open and he’s just a guy to be in the right spot,” Mahomes said. “As a quarterback, if you give him the football, he will make the play happen.

“He’s not going to talk too much. He’s going to come to work, do his job, but he’s also going to do whatever it takes to win (because) those are the guys you want on your team.”

Gray’s reliability is one of the reasons the Chiefs gave him an $18 million contract extension shortly before the season started. Gray, whose contract is scheduled to expire after the 2027 season, appears to replace the 35-year-old Kelce.

His 23 receptions put him fourth, one behind the Chiefs. Xavier Worthy And Rashi RiceThey were tied for second place. Kelce leads the Chiefs with 62 catches.

“He’s a good football player and he does a lot for us,” coach Andy Reid said. “He’s one of those guys that doesn’t get a lot of credit for what he does, but he’s a very special guy. A team player, a great tight end. A lot of two-way tight ends. “We’re doing the last thing, plus he can spot Kelce and he’s coming out of games with a lot of snaps thanks to special teams.”

The Chiefs already rely on him as injuries limit how many wide receivers they can play at a time. Kansas City played 343 games this season and had two tough games; The highest number of this number was in the NFL.

“His ability to be a tight end and run routes and … block and do both really well, I think that sets him apart from a lot of players in this league,” offensive coordinator Matt said. “You hear me talk a lot about the trust factor of guys being in the right place at the right time,” Nagy said. “Honestly, I’m not sure there’s a better player on the team than Noah to be in the right place at the right time in this offense.

“That’s very valuable, and when you look at what he’s done, he’s probably one of the most underrated and underappreciated guys outside of this building.”

Looking at Gray’s catch percentage, he is clearly the leader for the Chiefs. Kelce caught 76.5% of the passes coming towards him. DeAndre Hopkins 74.4% achieved.

“What he does in practice he transfers into the game, and from a training standpoint, he takes every rep he gets into consideration,” Nagy said. “Sometimes I think what’s even more special about that part of the game is it might not be one or two in the progression. It could be third in the progression, and when you get back to third in the progression, he’s always going to do the right thing there.”

It’s been slow but steady progress for Gray this season since the Chiefs drafted him out of Duke in the fifth round in 2021. He was used sparingly as a rookie receiver, catching seven passes.

It was hard to imagine him being a replacement for Kelce, or even Gray.

“Duke was a lot of fun and the NFL was a whole different game,” Gray said. “There are a lot of aspects of my game that I need to work on, and especially here in Kansas City, we throw the ball a lot.” So it was very important to practice to get there, work on route concepts with Pat and the other guys, adapt to that and stay on track as my career continues.”

The Chiefs don’t project Gray to ever be a productive pass-catcher like Kelce, but they didn’t give him a contract extension just because he blocked. He’s on track for a career-high 39 catches, and they’re happy with that for now.

“He’s a smart player, an extremely smart player, he does a lot of the physical things we need in this offense,” Mahomes said. “He manages to get himself open, makes the catches when he is asked to do so.

“He’s one of those guys that can replace Travis at times and I have full confidence that he can go out there and make plays. So he’s learned a lot from Trav and you can see he’s getting better every day. And every year I’ve been happy for him because he’s “He’s one of those guys who did his job the right way and deserved the contract he got.”