A tight end from the Kansas City suburbs, Zach Atkins should have an easy choice for his favorite NFL player.

Travis Kelce, right?

Wrong.

The Olathe, Kansas, native is a Brock Bowers fan. 

Oh, Atkins is a big Chiefs fan. Now entering his second season at Colorado, Atkins says if he had to pick one player he models his game after, it would be the Raiders star who is likely to cause problems for his beloved Chiefs (and the Broncos) for years to come in the AFC West.

“I look at his film all the time,” Atkins said last week at Big 12 media days in Frisco, Texas.

The biggest reason Atkins likes to watch Bowers, who graduated high school only one year before Atkins, is because of his size profile and the fact that he “just liked to score touchdowns” while growing up playing wide receiver.

Atkins was a first-team all-state honoree as a senior in high school, finishing as a finalist for the Otis Taylor Award, given annually to the top wide receiver in the Kansas City metro area. He transitioned to tight end shortly after arriving at Northwest Missouri State on the advice of a coach. He quickly put on 40 pounds in the span of a year. 

Now, like Bowers, Atkins is 6-foot-4 and plays around 235-240 pounds, whereas Kelce is at least an inch taller and weighs 15-20 pounds more.

“That’s rare,” Atkins said of Kelce’s build. “He’s kind of a specimen. He’s a legend in Kansas City, along with (Patrick) Mahomes. Those guys are the thing in Kansas City. Watching him growing up as a kid, I’ve always looked at his game and his ability to find space in a zone, win his one-on-one matchups, always makes the big play. Super-consistent guy.”

That’s what Atkins is hoping to be as the undisputed leader of the tight end room in a new-look Buffaloes offense this season.

After making the jump from the NCAA Division II ranks last offseason, Atkins was hoping to play a bigger role, despite finishing fourth on the team with 20 catches for 149 yards on a CU offense that struggled to find consistency in the passing game.

Like it has for the entirety of coach Deion Sanders’ tenure, the tight end position was rendered mostly obsolete by the end of the season with an extra wide receiver being brought onto the field in obvious passing situations and an extra offensive lineman in the fold when the team wanted to run the ball.

Under new offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, Atkins said the tight ends will be the “Swiss Army Knife” of Marion’s “Go Go” system.

“We’re going to be asked to do everything,” Atkins said. “Make the big block, make the big play over the middle, run some trick plays here and there. He’s the first ‘OC’ that’s gonna use us to our strengths and I’m really excited about that.

“It’s every pass-catching tight end’s dream.”

More than anything, Atkins is hoping to be the next in line to make the jump from Northwest Missouri State to the national stage.

Earlier this year, Atkins watched friend and fellow Kansas City-area native Bennett Stirtz get picked by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the NBA draft. Stirtz also began his career with the Bearcats, elevating first to Drake and then to Iowa with coach Ben McCollum.

If all goes well for Atkins in his final season of college football, he’ll be a reason the small school in Maryville, Mo., stays on the national sports radar.

“If anyone knows ball, they know Northwest Missouri State,” Atkins said. “One of the best football and basketball programs in the country, regardless of level. They don’t get enough credit.”