Chiefs experimenting with using four TEs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There were nearly 34,000 offensive plays run in the NFL last season and exactly 11 that included four tight ends.

The Chiefs could reach that number — or double or triple it — all by themselves this season.

The two-time defending AFC Champions have long toyed with exotic personnel packages, a byproduct of the creative offensive mind of Coach Andy Reid. They even kept four tight ends on the roster last year, though Ricky Seals-Jones played only six snaps all season and never with Travis Kelce and the rest of his cohorts on the field.

But the Chiefs foreshadowed the actual use of what teams refer to as a “14 package” — one running back and four tight ends — in their preseason finale against Minnesota, when Patrick Mahomes tossed a TD pass to Blake Bell at the goal line.

“Having those tight ends on the field that can run, block and catch, and then the offensive line that we’ve built here and how they’re able to run the ball — I think that’s going to put some defenses in some very tough positions,” Mahomes said.

The Patriots were among the first teams to regularly use a four tight end look in 2015, when they paired Scott Chandler and Michael Williams with Rob Gronkowski and Michael Hoomanawanui.

But even then, the look was designed primarily for use at the goal line, where the extra tight ends could serve as blockers to get a running back into the end zone.

The Chiefs are taking the personnel grouping to another level.

Kelce is already one of the league’s best pass-catching tight ends, and the Chiefs selected another pass-catcher in Duke’s Noah Gray in April’s draft. They’ve joined Bell, a former college quarterback with marvelous hands, and Jody Fortson, who also played quarterback before spending most of his career at wide receiver and only recently becoming a tight end.

In other words, the Chiefs have four tight ends with soft hands, each capable of catching passes downfield.

The problem that creates for defenses is quite simple: “They either have to put a lot of people on the field to stop the run,” Mahomes said, “or they have to find a way to stop those guys who can catch the ball like a receiver.”

The only downside? Keeping four tight ends on game day means losing a backup player at another position.

“We were already dangerous before I was activated. I think we just got a little more dangerous, to be honest with you,” Fortson said. “It gives us the opportunity to form a lot of looks and create so many mismatches. It’s going to be fun.”