National Football League

Greg Olsen on if Travis Kelce can be greatest TE ever, where Bears go from here

Updated Sep. 25, 2023 8:32 p.m. ET

Travis Kelce may be making more headlines off the field these days than he is on it — such is life after familial confirmation of dating rumors linking someone to Taylor Swift. But on the field, the two-time Super Bowl champion is still carving out a place as one of the best tight ends ever. And NFL on FOX analyst Greg Olsen, a former Pro Bowl tight end himself, believes Kelce could ascend to even further heights.

Olsen, who will be on the mic with Kevin Burkhardt as the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs host the Chicago Bears at 4:25 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, explained to David Helman on the "NFL on FOX Podcast" what makes Kelce so dynamic at his role.

"The thing about Travis is, you cannot prepare defenses [for him]," Olsen said. "You cannot prepare your linebackers or safeties, or whoever you're trying to get ready each week, for his route tree, for his play style. Every one of his routes has a really unique flexibility within the route concept that he and [Patrick] Mahomes really understand.

"They grasp where, if you think you're going to drop to the spot where his route is going to be, he has it built into his both his ability, his movement skills, his agility, his change of direction, but then also mentally, where he's going to adjust that route. He's always going to run the route where you're not. It just puts so much pressure because one dig route can be run five different ways. It gets to the point where there's really no ability to ever prevent him from getting his targets in his catches."

Olsen believes that Kelce's physical and mental ability to endlessly adjust — and Mahomes' ability to adjust with him — explains why Kelce is nearly impossible to cover one-on-one and why nobody can seem to create a successful plan to stop him like defenses are sometimes able to do against even the best pass-catchers.

"It's his improv skills," Olsen said. "It's his feel. It's his change of speed. It's his ability to find openings, and stay open."

If Kelce maintains those skills for just a bit longer, Olsen believes that will solidify his standing among the greatest to ever play the position in NFL history, especially given Kelce's playoff heroics.

"If he has another year or two like the previous seven, I think the conversation changes [and] he is the best tight end to ever do it," Olsen said.

While Kansas City does not appear to be sweating a shaky Chiefs start now that Kelce has seemingly recovered from a knee injury and star pass-rusher Chris Jones has ended his holdout, their opponent Sunday is navigating tumultuous waters.

Over the past two days, the Bears have dealt with quarterback Justin Fields blaming coaching for some of his early-season struggles, then quickly walking back his comments, the sudden resignation of defensive coordinator Alan Williams, myriad injuries to their offensive line and a recently surfaced video from last Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that appeared to show wide receiver DJ Moore agreeing with a Tampa Bay linebacker's statement that he was not being used right in the Bears' offense.

What Olsen is curious to see is how the Bears' veteran players step up and show leadership amid the turmoil.

"You need some of those veterans that have been around for a while that have the ear of the locker room that can say, ‘Hey, boy, you know, we gotta block all this out, fellas. We cannot let our season go down the drain before we even play our third game,'" Olsen said. "It's easier said than done.

"I think a big challenge that they have in Chicago is a lot of their more veteran presence guys just got there. DJ Moore, T.J. Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds, I mean, a lot of their established veteran highly successful individual players did not grow up in that program, they did not cut their teeth in that program. They've kind of added them to a bunch of young players."

Greg Olsen on what makes Travis Kelce so special for the Kansas City Chiefs

Olsen believes a strong veteran voice in a locker room is often a reason why some teams are able to weather adversity while the lack of one is likely a culprit when some teams spiral.

"They've got a lot of really good guys in that locker room, it's just a matter of who's going to stand up who's going to be that guy that's going to take charge," Olsen said. "I think they're going through a little bit of that transition right now with all the roster turnover, they're still trying to have guys kind of find their footing within the organization and get comfortable with their new teammates."

"It's unfortunate this turmoil has happened so early in the season. I think if it happens in December, by that time guys have kind of found their way."

And while the Bears may be heavy underdogs against Mahomes, Kelce and the Chiefs, Olsen sees it as a massive opportunity for Chicago to turn the page from the recent tumult.

"No better chance to get it right than against the defending Super Bowl champs," Olsen said.