When the San Francisco 49ers selected George Kittle in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft with the 146th overall pick, it's safe to say that not too many envisioned him becoming one of the greatest tight ends in league history.
After all, in his four years at the tight end factory that is the University of Iowa, the Wisconsin native tallied just 48 total receptions for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns. Nevertheless, the Niners took a shot, and things have obviously worked out quite nicely.
Through his first eight seasons in San Francisco, Kittle has racked up 538 regular-season receptions for 7,380 yards and 45 touchdowns, earning six trips to the Pro Bowl, two First-Team All-Pro nods, and three Second-Team selections. And the soon-to-be 32-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down, as his 1,106 yards in 2024 were the second-most of his career.
Now, given the overall state of the San Francisco receiving room, one can only assume Kittle is in for another big year. And if he can hit certain totals, all of which we'll get into momentarily, he'll join a number of highly exclusive clubs during the Niners' 2025 campaign.
For starters, with 620 receiving yards, Kittle would join Kansas City Chiefs superstar Travis Kelce (you may have heard of him) as the only tight ends in NFL history to reach 8,000 yards in their first nine seasons. And assuming he stays healthy, that number should be easily attainable, as the only time he failed to reach 620 was as a rookie in 2017, when he tallied 515. Even in 2020, when the former Hawkeye missed eight games with a broken foot, he still got to 634.
In addition, if Kittle can reach the 1,000-yard mark, he would become just the second tight end in league history with five seasons in four digits. Kelce has had seven such seasons during his 13-year run with the Chiefs.
Furthermore, if Kittle reaches 62 receptions and five touchdowns, he'll become just the fourth tight end with at least 600 catches and 50 TDs in his first nine season, joining Kelce, Tony Gonzalez, and Jimmy Graham.
From an all-time perspective, to make his way into the top 10 in the three main categories, Kittle will need 84 catches to pass Rob Gronkowski for 10th in receptions, 601 yards to pass Ozzie Newsome for 10th in yardage, and eight touchdowns to tie Dallas Clark in TDs. The reason we went with a tie on that last one is that Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz is tied with Clark in 10th with 53 scores. So, we'll have to see what happens there.
Taking only the 49ers' receiving records into account, Kittle is never going to reach Jerry Rice at No. 1 in any category. That's just a given. But he can move into the No. 2 slot in a couple of categories, needing 55 catches to pass Terrell Owens on the Niners' all-time receptions list and 1,193 yards to pass T.O. on the franchise's all-time receiving yards list. Five touchdowns would also get Kittle into the top five on the Niners' all-time receiving TDs list.
So, get hyped up, 49ers fans. George Kittle is primed to make all sorts of history in 2025.