KK #41

Ko Kieft

Tight End · Minnesota

A blocking-first tight end who has carved out a five-year NFL career almost entirely through special teams grit and short-yardage toughness.

Ko Kieft has never been the Buccaneers' pass-catching option at tight end, and that has never been the point. Since arriving as a sixth-round pick out of Minnesota, he has built a reputation as one of Tampa Bay's most reliable core special teamers and a trusted blocker in goal-line packages, a role that keeps him on the roster year after year.

★ Played in 53 of 54 possible games over his first three-plus NFL seasons

★ Career-high 77% kick-coverage snap rate before his 2025 injury

★ Sixth-round pick (218th overall) by Tampa Bay in the 2022 NFL Draft

Path to the league

Kieft played college football at Minnesota before the Buccaneers selected him in the sixth round, 218th overall, of the 2022 NFL Draft. He was never projected as a receiving threat coming out, and Tampa Bay has used him accordingly, leaning on his blocking and special-teams value from day one.

Career highlights

Through his first several NFL seasons, Kieft played in 53 of a possible 54 regular-season games with 19 starts, catching just 8 passes for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns. His offensive usage has stayed around 20 percent of Tampa Bay's snaps, concentrated almost entirely in goal-line and short-yardage sets, while he has become a special teams mainstay.

2025 season recap

Kieft's 2025 season was cut short by injury. He played 29 offensive snaps across three games, primarily as a blocker without a single target, while logging a career-high 77 percent of kickoff coverage snaps before a Week 3 leg injury against the Jets ended his season.