49ers: 5 most competitive position battles so far at OTAs
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: 49ers tight end depth behind George Kittle remains open
Not surprisingly, All-Pro tight end George Kittle is setting the standard during OTAs.
But the depth behind him remains an open-ended question, and it got a bit crazier with the Niners inking former Tennessee Titans tight end MyCole Pruitt last week.
Pruitt joins a pretty crowded tight end room that features a decent bit of promise but lacks a clear-cut No. 2 option to support Kittle. The favorite for that role, of course, is the veteran, Ross Dwelley, who has backed up Kittle the last two years quite frequently.
Others, like second-year pro Charlie Woerner and undrafted rookie Josh Pederson, are also fully in the mix for a potential roster spot.
Woerner’s rough route-running abilities remain on display during these OTA sessions, though, so perhaps that helps explain why San Francisco brought aboard a pass-blocking specialist in Pruitt to potentially compete with Woerner, possibly even to take over his spot on the depth chart.
Pederson remains a long shot to make the cut. Yet if there’s anything to be said about the available roster spots behind Kittle right now, we know it’s an awfully slippery ladder from the No. 2 job to being out of a job by the end of training camp altogether.