Tom Pelissero

USA TODAY Sports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry doesn't compare teammate Travis Kelce to New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski.

Berry has covered Kelce enough in practice – or at least tried to cover him – to say the 6-foot-5, 260-pound former quarterback doesn't compare to any other tight end in the NFL.

"Nah, he's a different breed. For real," Berry told USA TODAY Sports this week. "He's big, he's got speed and he's got moves. He's got a lot of swag about his play. He doesn't do it like how it says in the book."

In the locker room and around the NFL, people are waiting for Kelce to break out. He's too gifted and the Chiefs need playmakers too badly for him to stay a part-time player long, even as Kelce, 24, continues to work his way back from microfracture knee surgery 11 months ago.

Kelce played just 18 snaps in last week's opener against the Tennessee Titans. But that was enough for Alex Smith to target him five times, completing three for 49 yards, including a corner route for 27 that left veteran linebacker Kamerion Wimbley stumbling to catch up.

"I grew up in Cleveland watching Kamerion Wimbley (with the Browns), so it was funny just going up against him and then burning him deep," said Kelce, whose older brother Jason plays center for the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I feel like I have the playmaking ability to get things going here soon. Whenever I get the ball in my hands, I just try to get the thing as north as possible and get in the end zone."

A third-round pick out of Cincinnati last year, Kelce didn't even play tight end until 2011, after serving a yearlong suspension for violating team rules. That might be part of why he – in Berry's words – "puts his own little flavor on" everything he does at the position.

Kelce says he still thinks like a quarterback, visualizing the entire concept of every play and trying to get someone else open when he's not. He says he's comfortable with everything he's asked to do athletically and in pattern. But this is still just his third full season as a tight end.

"He's a guy that's learning," Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson said, "and he's a guy that mentally we are going to put in certain situations and build a package around and give him 'X' amount of plays a game, and it's just through his growth and his maturity that, the more he can handle, the more obviously he'll step on the field."

The comparisons to Gronkowski are inevitable. They have similar frames. Both ran the 40-yard dash in the 4.6 range coming out of college. Both can handle themselves inline in addition to threatening defenses as receivers from a detached position.

Kelce knows he's a long way from deserving mention alongside one of the league's premier matchup threats, though. Right now, he's a second-stringer behind veteran Anthony Fasano. And Kelce admits he doesn't feel back to normal following the surgery last Oct. 8.

"Physically, I've changed," Kelce said. "My upper body has gotten to pretty much the strongest I've been, and then my lower body, I'm still trying to catch up. But I'm pretty sure by the time midseason rolls around, I should be back to where I should be."

Once that happens … watch out.

"He's very smooth," Berry said. "He runs good routes, and not just on the field. We also train together (in Florida in the offseason). Off the field, he works hard. He works very hard. That's what a lot of people don't see. He puts the time in. I'm excited to see what he can do."