San Francisco 49ers: 5 veterans on the bubble after 2019 NFL Draft
By Peter Panacy
No. 5: Tight End Garrett Celek
San Francisco’s draft additions of Jalen Hurd and Stanford tight end Kaden Smith shake up the depth chart behind Pro Bowler George Kittle.
San Francisco 49ers
While the Niners struggled to find any consistency with their No. 3 tight end over the course of 2018, these two moves directly affect the future of veteran TE Garrett Celek, who held the immediate backup role behind Kittle.
There was a solid-enough reason to move on from Celek in 2019, too. Case in point, he ended up being tagged with more accepted penalties against (six) than receptions (five) last season. And soon to be 31 years old, it’s not likely Celek is suddenly going to see an uptick in production and recapture that “Celek Time” moniker he enjoyed back in 2017.
Smith has enough upside to suggest he’ll take over Celek’s role as a blocker, potentially serving as a decent pass-catching option behind Kittle.
Yet the kicker, and primary reason why Celek is on this bubble-watch list, is Hurd.
At 6-foot-5, the former Baylor wide receiver looks to be an H-back weapon for Kyle Shanahan, which would all but eliminate most situations in which Celek would be a receiving target. Given Celek’s recent history of holding penalties, a future with that role seems far from guaranteed as well.