San Francisco 49ers: 5 players with best chances to make the 2019 Pro Bowl

No. 1: Tight End George Kittle

Well, if this wasn’t obvious.

Second-year tight end George Kittle may wind up falling short of other tight ends in total receiving yards, especially the Philadelphia Eagles’ Zach Ertz, but that doesn’t change the fact Kittle is a virtual shoo-in for Pro Bowl starting consideration in the NFC after this season.

Making the argument isn’t hard. First, he already has a team-high 775 receiving yards on the year, which would put him on pace to net 1,240 yards for all of 2018. That would set a franchise record for tight ends and would mark the first time a 49ers pass catcher recorded more than 1,000 since wide receiver Anquan Boldin did it back in 2014.

And Kittle has contributed these numbers from three different quarterbacks too: Jimmy Garoppolo, C.J. Beathard and, most recently, Nick Mullens.

Kittle is more complete in run blocking too, which has been a staple of San Francisco’s offense. But the kicker is this, according to Pro Football Focus:

Yeah.

If Kittle doesn’t wind up getting a Pro Bowl nod in 2019, he’ll have either been sidelined with an injury (knock on wood, no) or the voting process needs to be entirely abandoned.

Forget Pro Bowl accolades in regards to Kittle. He’s at the point where first-team All-Pro considerations need to be added to the picture.

And amid an otherwise lost season for San Francisco, that would be an amazing storyline.