When it comes to playing tight end, there's not many better than the Kansas City Chiefs' Travis Kelce.

The five-year veteran hauled in 83 passes in 2017, leading all tight ends, while amassing 1,038 yards and eight touchdowns through the air.

It was just another strong season for the former third-round pick as he continued to establish himself as one of the very best at his position in the NFL.

In this edition of Chiefs by the Numbers, we'll take a closer look at just how special Kelce has been over the past few years.

Kelce hauled in eight touchdowns in 2017 – the most of his career.

Additionally, of those eight touchdowns, Kelce managed to score from outside the red zone three times, matching the Browns' David Njoku and the Buccaneers' O.J. Howard for the most such scores among all tight ends last season.

A model of consistency, Kelce has tallied at least 100 yards receiving on 10 occasions over the past two seasons – tied with Colts' wide receiver T.Y. Hilton for the third-most in the NFL behind only Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown (12) and Atlanta's Julio Jones (11) in that time.

And unsurprisingly, the Chiefs are 8-2 in those contests.

Kelce had to work for many of his 1,038 yards last season, tallying 439 of those yards after the catch – the most among all tight ends in 2017.

In fact, since Kelce's first full season in 2014, his 2,140 yards after the catch lead all tight ends by a wide margin and rank fifth in the NFL overall.

Kelce will be chasing some history this upcoming season as he tries to tally a third-straight 1,000-yard campaign.

Interestingly enough, only eight tight ends – including Kelce – have ever notched consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, and of those eight, only one – Carolina Panthers' tight end Greg Olsen – has recorded three in a row.

Kelce has a chance to become the second in 2018.