49ers roster 2021: George Kittle can get another All-Pro
By Peter Panacy
49ers tight end George Kittle will look to bounce back in 2021 after an injury-plagued season last year, which points him to another All-Pro nod.
When it comes to determining who the best tight end in the NFL today is, most fans are going to take one of two sides: the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Travis Kelce or the San Francisco 49ers‘ George Kittle.
Kelce might own the single-season record for most receiving yards by a tight end (1,416), set last year when he broke Kittle’s previous record of 1,377 set back in 2018 and also, subsequently, breaking Kelce’s brief hold on the record earlier that day in Week 17.
Yet few would argue Kittle is the better all-around tight end, superior in blocking and having done far more over his brief career with fewer offensive weapons supporting him and a lesser quarterback.
Err… trio of quarterbacks trying to get Kittle ball the last three seasons.
| Game | Game | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% |
| 2017 | 24 | SFO | te | 85 | 15 | 7 | 63 | 43 | 515 | 2 | 68.3% |
| 2018* | 25 | SFO | TE | 85 | 16 | 16 | 136 | 88 | 1377 | 5 | 64.7% |
| 2019*+ | 26 | SFO | TE | 85 | 14 | 14 | 107 | 85 | 1053 | 5 | 79.4% |
| 2020 | 27 | SFO | TE | 85 | 8 | 8 | 63 | 48 | 634 | 2 | 76.2% |
| Care | Care | 53 | 45 | 369 | 264 | 3579 | 14 | 71.5% |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com
Generated 7/1/2021.
To support this, Pro Football Focus named Kittle the 2019 Dwight Stephenson Award winner, which is given to their top-ranked qualifying player to whom they described, “Kittle’s overall grade of 95.0 wasn’t just the best grade of any tight end in the game this season (by some distance), but was the best grade of any player at any position league-wide.”
Yup.
Unfortunately, injuries have also paralleled Kittle’s meteoric rise to the top. Last year in particular, Kittle suffered multiple injuries, including a foot fracture, that ultimately limited him to just eight games, ending his brief streak of being a perennial Pro Bowler.
But there’s no shortage of reasons why Kittle bounces back in a big way this season.
Niner Noise takes a look how in our latest “Who is?” installment.