While the Kansas City Chiefs are winless through two games of their preseason, there have been some bright spots. Multiple players have made cases for being included in Week 1’s 53-man roster. One of them has been tight end Robert Tonyan.
A veteran of seven NFL seasons — five of them with the Green Bay Packers, for whom he was an undrafted free agent out of Indiana State in 2018 — Tonyan hasn’t caught a regular-season pass since 2023, when he was with the Chicago Bears. He spent most of the 2024 season on the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad before being released (and signed to the Chiefs’ taxi squad) in December.
Now 31, Tonyan is at an age where many NFL players would be ready to call it a career. But the journeyman has made his case through camp (and the preseason) to not only make the 53-man roster, but also be the team’s third tight end.
Through two preseason games, Tonyan leads all Chiefs with eight receptions for 90 yards — and also recorded one of Kansas City’s two receiving touchdowns.
He’s looked like he did during his third season with the Packers, when he made his name as a big-bodied contested-catch target by registering 586 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns — which tied the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce for the most by a tight end in 2020.
Unfortunately for Tonyan, he’s never matched that production since then.
Tonyan started with what appeared to be a difficult path to Kansas City’s roster. The tight end room has been packed during the offseason, with Jared Wiley coming back from injury and the additions of Jake Briningstool, Tre Watson and Geor’quarius Spivey.
While Tonyan began as a long shot, he has worked his way into a position to make the roster — and while doing so, has established solid chemistry with the Chiefs’ quarterbacks.
On a rainy, blustery evening on the Seattle Seahawks’ Lumen Field last Friday, Kansas City sat its key starters, opening up more opportunities for reserve players. Tonyan was able to make the most of this chance, showing that he still has athleticism — and a knack for making plays on the fly.
Here, Tonyan’s pre-snap motion causes an opposing defensive back to come across the formation with him, telling Gardner Minshew (and the rest of the offense) that the Seahawks are playing man coverage.
This play is designed for Minshew to fake a handoff, roll out and find one of the players flowing his way. Unfortunately, everyone is covered. Skyy Moore can’t create separation on his route, the linebacker is waiting for Carson Steele in the flat and Spivey is essentially a decoy to sell the run fake.
Tonyan is the clear-out man — but as Minshew starts to improvise, the tight end catches the defensive back by surprise as he works back to the inside. Finding himself open just as Minshew is ready to deliver a throw, Tonyan secures the pass for the touchdown.
This kind of timing and improvisation is valued in the Chiefs’ offense — especially if Tonyan finds himself on the field with starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
On this nice play over the middle, Tonyan demonstrates chemistry with third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun, too. Initially, nothing is open — and Oladokun has pressure in his face — so he scrambles right. Tonyan is running a simple in-breaking route — but with the defense keyed in on Oladokun, he finds a hole in the coverage where he can create a throwing window for his quarterback. Tonyan brings in the pass — and for good measure, turns upfield to run for a few extra yards.
At his age (and with some injury history), Tonyan isn’t as fast or agile as some other players. But his frame still gives him the ability to make contested catches — and he still has a little juice left.
Here we see a simple play design. While it takes a dandy of a pass from Oladokun to make it work, Tonyan shows off some hops after making the catch and picking up a first down.
Seeing the coaching staff drawing up plays for Tonyan tells us how they feel about him. It’s a signal that we may see him sticking around all season.
Tonyan is past the prime of his career, so he might not get another opportunity like the one the Chiefs are presenting. While he’s on his fourth team in as many years, securing a roster spot in Kansas City will give him a chance to chase football’s ultimate prize.
To win that spot, Tonyan will have to contribute on special teams. But since he’s been in for at least 25% of the special teams snaps in each of the two preseason games, it looks like the position is his to earn.
When the Chiefs host the Chicago Bears on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Friday night, we’ll see if his final preseason opportunity can make that happen.