49ers tight end George Kittle has yet to have a prolific game this season, yet there are reasons why he’s off to what might be considered a slowish start.
If the San Francisco 49ers are going to right their offensive woes this season, All-Pro tight end George Kittle has to be a primary reason why.
There’s no questioning Kittle should be listed among the three best tight ends in the league right now. Yet the overall numbers from him over the first four weeks of the season aren’t necessarily impressive.
Especially considering how vital he is to head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
| Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | Tm | Opp | Result | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Ctch% | Y/Tgt | |
| 1 | SFO | @ | DET | W 41-33 | 5 | 4 | 78 | 19.50 | 0 | 80.0% | 15.60 |
| 2 | SFO | @ | PHI | W 17-11 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 4.25 | 0 | 100.0% | 4.25 |
| 3 | SFO | GNB | L 28-30 | 9 | 7 | 92 | 13.14 | 0 | 77.8% | 10.22 | |
| 4 | SFO | SEA | L 21-28 | 10 | 4 | 40 | 10.00 | 0 | 40.0% | 4.00 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com
Generated 10/7/2021.
Kittle has yet to find the end zone this season. And while he hasn’t always been a prime scoring threat over his otherwise prolific career, the fact he has just 227 receiving yards this season, fourth most among tight ends so far, is a bit concerning.
Especially when one factors in how that would extrapolate to just 965 receiving yards over a full 17-game season: good for a mid-level tight end but not someone viewed as one of the biggest offensive threats in the NFL right now. And if one looks at the metrics, Football Outsiders actually ranks Kittle 45th in terms of their DYAR (Defense-adjusted Yards Above Replacement) metric.
However, there are legitimate reasons why Kittle hasn’t gotten off to a rocket-like start.
Let’s explore three of those.
No. 3: George Kittle is dealing with injuries again
Yes, George Kittle is one of the most popular players on the Niners roster. There’s no getting around that, and there’s also no need.
But one of the negatives about his otherwise noteworthy career is the fact he’s injury-prone. While it’s never wise to “blame” a player for injuries, the simple reality is some players end up suffering more injury setbacks than others.
Kittle falls into this category, as evidenced by the fact he missed two games in 2019 and then eight more last season with varying setbacks.
Now, Kittle is dealing with a calf injury suffered back in Week 2 that has hindered him the last two weeks. While Kittle has been able to take the field for every game since, it’s reasonable to assume he’s not at 100 percent. And it’s also a reasonable conclusion to suggest his lower stats are a partial result of his most recent injury.
Kittle is tough, though. He’ll play through injuries. Even by doing this, Kittle can make an impact even if it doesn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet.
This leads us to our next reason behind Kittle’s slow start.
No. 2: George Kittle is serving as a 49ers offensive decoy
Healthy or not, George Kittle is not going to relinquish his title of being San Francisco’s top receiving threat even if the stats aren’t backing it up.
There are two factors working against Kittle, at least in terms of the numbers. First, the 49ers don’t exactly have a field-stretching deep threat. Even if they did, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t known for taking frequent shots down the field beyond 20 yards, thereby allowing defenses to cheat up towards the line of scrimmage.
Kittle is always a yards-after-catch threat anytime he gets the ball. And despite the lower-than-anticipated numbers, he’s still impacting this category with 161 of his 227 yards coming after the catch.
Opponents know this, too, and what’s become a strategy is to limit Kittle from getting behind the second and third levels of the defense. And it’s not uncommon for Kittle to draw multiple defenders, thereby cutting down on the number of easy targets.
Fortunately, however, this has allowed fellow 49ers pass-catchers like wide receiver Deebo Samuel to have a massive impact.
No doubting Samuel’s league-high 490 receiving yards have partially come at the expense of Kittle not getting his touches.
No. 1: 49ers inconsistent offense hinders George Kittle
Football is arguably the most hand-in-glove team sport out there, and so many different factors and X-factors will have a say in how well any given player might perform.
Jimmy Garoppolo and, to a lesser extent, Trey Lance are still targeting Kittle, as the tight end ranks No. 2 in targets with 28 behind Deebo Samuel’s 43. Yet Kittle has only been able to haul in 68 percent of those targets, which isn’t terrible in of itself but not suggesting he’s been the No. 1 option.
Plus, in the two games of four this season in which the Niners offense has come up flat, Weeks 2 and 4, Kittle’s receiving numbers have taken a hit:
- Week 2 @ Philadelphia Eagles: Four catches, 17 yards
- Week 4 vs. Seattle Seahawks: Four catches, 40 yards
San Francisco scored 17 total points in Week 2, and the offense subsequently went flat after an opening touchdown drive in Week 4 before Lance and a desperate come-from-behind offense made things interesting in the second half versus Seattle.
Read More: George Kittle can help Trey Lance transition into 49ers starter
It might be hard to truly link Kittle’s down games with the ones the entire 49ers offense has struggled in. But there could be an identifiable correlation there.
Either way, the Niners will need Kittle just as much as ever before, especially in the transition from Garoppolo to Lance and as a potent No. 1 offensive weapon.