George Kittle is rapidly losing his fantasy football value in 2021
By Peter Panacy
George Kittle remains one of the 49ers’ best players in 2021, but the lack of offensive production means his fantasy football value has dropped.
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle is one of the NFL’s best players at his position. There’s no questioning that.
As far as an all-around player, someone who excels as a receiving weapon, decoy and a lead blocker, no tight end in the league comes close to doing so many different things.
And doing them well.
Unfortunately, at least for fantasy football owners, elite-level blocking and opening up plays for other receiving weapons, such as wide receiver Deebo Samuel, doesn’t exactly generate a lot of return in the fantasy football department.
True, Kittle was sidelined for three games earlier this season with a calf injury, and that undoubtedly cut into his fantasy value.
Still, it appears as if Kittle is no longer in that top-three echelon of fantasy-producing tight ends.
George Kittle experiencing a drastic drop in fantasy football production in 2021
Over the course of eight games played this season, Kittle has 35 receptions for 425 yards and three touchdowns.
To date, that’s equated to 94.4 fantasy points in ESPN PPR leagues, 15th entering Week 13.
And Pro Football Reference’s data doesn’t exactly suggest a high output either:
| Insi | Insi | Insi | Insi | Insi | Insi | Insi | Insi | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Fant | Fant | Fant | ||||||||
| Rk | G# | Date | Tm | Opp | Result | Pos | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | FantPt | DKPt | FDPt | |
| 1 | 1 | 2021-09-12 | SFO | @ | DET | W 41-33 | TE | 7.80 | 11.8 | 9.8 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | 2021-09-19 | SFO | @ | PHI | W 17-11 | TE | 1.70 | 5.7 | 3.7 | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | 2021-09-26 | SFO | GNB | L 28-30 | TE | 10.10 | 17.1 | 13.6 | |||||||||
| 4 | 4 | 2021-10-03 | SFO | SEA | L 21-28 | TE | 4.00 | 8.0 | 6.0 | |||||||||
| 5 | 8 | 2021-11-07 | SFO | ARI | L 17-31 | TE | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 14.10 | 24.1 | 17.1 | |
| 6 | 9 | 2021-11-15 | SFO | LAR | W 31-10 | TE | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 11.00 | 16.0 | 13.5 | |
| 7 | 10 | 2021-11-21 | SFO | @ | JAX | W 30-10 | TE | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9.40 | 13.4 | 11.4 |
| 8 | 11 | 2021-11-28 | SFO | MIN | W 34-26 | TE | 1 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.30 | 2.3 | 1.8 | |
| Total | 4 | 4 | 28 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 59.4 | 98.4 | 76.9 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com
Generated 12/1/2021.
The top name, of course, is Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce with 183.5 ESPN fantasy points, followed by the Baltimore Ravens’ Mark Andrews with 170.1.
Of course, Kittle’s fantasy drop in value wasn’t aided by his mere one catch for 13 yards during the Niners’ Week 12 win over the Minnesota Vikings. But with San Francisco getting back to a run-first approach in what’s been a three-game win streak, there could be cause for concern Kittle won’t get back to a top-three fantasy tight end this season.
Does George Kittle still command top fantasy football value?
The short answer? Absolutely.
Despite the drop in production, Kittle is still rostered in 98.8 percent of ESPN fantasy leagues. If you have him rostered (chances are, you do if you’re reading this article), don’t fathom any sort of drop or trade.
Related Story: 3 reasons George Kittle is off to a slow start in 2021
But if your league has a late trade deadline, or none at all, it’s still worth trying to convince Kittle owners elsewhere he might be worth a steal of a deal. It can’t hurt, right?
The reason why is pretty simple. For starters, Kittle is one of the few tight ends in the league who is easily capable of putting together a five-catch, 100-yard, one-touchdown game on any given week. With Samuel likely out with a groin injury, perhaps for at least two weeks, there’s an even greater chance Kittle will see an increase in targets over the 49ers’ upcoming stretch of games.
Besides, Kittle is still averaging 11.8 fantasy football points per week, perhaps not in the top three any longer but still in the top 10 of that particular category.
Unless you have better options, keep him in your lineup. Or go and get him if another owner is foolish enough to part ways with him.
Next. Ranking 49ers' 10 best late-round NFL Draft picks in team history. dark