Do you select George Kittle before Travis Kelce in a playoff draft? The way they’ve been playing recently, it’s a reasonable question to ponder.
Kittle is on an unbelievable tear right now. He’s caught 7 of the last 9 touchdown passes that Brock Purdy has thrown. Since the 49ers switched quarterbacks, they’ve thrown 13 TD passes in six games, and Kittle has caught over half of them.
Kelce, on the other hand, hasn’t been getting those goal-line catches. Kansas City threw 12 TD passes in its final six games, and Kelce didn’t catch any of them.
On the pro-Kelce side, he catches lots of passes. He’s better than Kittle in that regard. Kelce’s finished with fewer than 40 yards only twice all year. With Kittle, even during this recent hot streak he hasn’t been a volume pass catcher – he’s finished with fewer than 30 yards in four of his last six games.
The format of your competition, of course, is important. With the 49ers not having a bye, Kittle looks like he’ll probably play in more games. If KC stumbles in the AFC Championship game, Kelce will play in only two games. Kittle looks like a safe choice to play in three games, and it will be four if the 49ers advance to the Super Bowl.
In the chart below, you’re looking at all tight ends with at least 100 yards in the final six weeks of the season. Those on playoff teams tagged with black dots. Players are ordered using PPR scoring (6 for TDs, 1 for every 10 yards and 1 for each catch).
| TIGHT ENDS: LAST SIX WEEKS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Rec | Yards | TD | PPR |
| George Kittle, S.F. | 6 | 24 | 315 | 7 | 97.5 |
| • Evan Engram, Jac. | 6 | 36 | 410 | 3 | 95.0 |
| • Travis Kelce, K.C. | 6 | 37 | 426 | 0 | 79.6 |
| • T.J. Hockenson, Min. | 6 | 34 | 327 | 2 | 78.7 |
| • Dalton Schultz, Dall. | 6 | 24 | 267 | 2 | 62.7 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | 6 | 24 | 190 | 3 | 61.0 |
| Cole Kmet, Chi. | 6 | 24 | 235 | 2 | 59.5 |
| • Dawson Knox, Buff. | 5 | 15 | 190 | 4 | 58.0 |
| Chigoziem Okonkwo, Ten. | 6 | 21 | 243 | 2 | 57.3 |
| Jordan Akins, Hou. | 6 | 16 | 195 | 3 | 53.5 |
| • Noah Fant, Sea. | 6 | 17 | 146 | 3 | 49.6 |
| • Gerald Everett, LAC | 6 | 20 | 173 | 2 | 49.3 |
| Trey McBride, Ari. | 6 | 21 | 220 | 1 | 49.0 |
| • Mark Andrews, Balt. | 5 | 21 | 246 | 0 | 45.6 |
| David Njoku, Cle. | 5 | 17 | 164 | 2 | 45.4 |
| Darren Waller, L.V. | 4 | 12 | 213 | 2 | 45.3 |
| Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 6 | 16 | 211 | 1 | 43.1 |
| MyCole Pruitt, Atl. | 6 | 12 | 119 | 3 | 41.9 |
| Jelani Woods, Ind. | 6 | 18 | 233 | 0 | 41.3 |
| • Isaiah Likely, Balt. | 6 | 18 | 167 | 1 | 40.7 |
| Greg Dulcich, Den. | 4 | 14 | 177 | 1 | 37.7 |
| Tyler Conklin, NYJ | 6 | 20 | 171 | 0 | 37.1 |
| Hunter Henry, N.E. | 6 | 18 | 186 | 0 | 36.6 |
| Austin Hooper, Ten. | 6 | 17 | 187 | 0 | 35.7 |
| C.J. Uzomah, NYJ | 5 | 8 | 133 | 2 | 33.3 |
| • Cade Otton, T.B. | 6 | 16 | 110 | 1 | 33.0 |
| • Colby Parkinson, Sea. | 6 | 12 | 150 | 1 | 33.0 |
| Logan Thomas, Was. | 6 | 19 | 140 | 0 | 33.0 |
| • Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 3 | 12 | 158 | 0 | 27.8 |
| • Daniel Bellinger, NYG | 5 | 14 | 116 | 0 | 25.6 |
| Foster Moreau, L.V. | 6 | 9 | 136 | 0 | 22.6 |
| • Noah Gray, K.C. | 6 | 10 | 125 | 0 | 22.5 |
Statistics compiled using search tools at Pro-Football-Reference.com
—Ian Allan