George Kittle is a good tight end, and I think something about how the 49ers use him maximizes his talents. He gets downfield more than others at his position.
Kittle averaged 14.2 yards per catch last year, and he was even better the previous season, averaging 15.7. Over the last two years, he’s averaged almost 2 more yards per catch than Tucker Kraft, and over 2 yards more than everyone else. He’s a downfield weapon.
Kittle was able to hit on all of those downfield plays last year while still catching 83 percent of the passes thrown his way. If we blend those two numbers together, it works out to 11.8 yards per pass attempt. That’s the 2nd-best by any tight end (with at least 50 targets) since the league started tracking that stat in the early ‘90s.
Kittle the last two years, in fact, has two of the four best seasons in that regard. The top 30 such seasons appear below. Kittle is on there five times. Only two other tight ends appear more than once: Rob Gronkowski (3 times) and Dallas Goedert (twice).
| TIGHT ENDS, YARDS PER TARGET | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2010 | Antonio Gates, S.D. | 65 | 50 | 782 | 12.0 | 10 |
| 2024 | George Kittle, S.F. | 94 | 78 | 1106 | 11.8 | 8 |
| 1995 | Ken Dilger, Ind. | 55 | 42 | 635 | 11.5 | 4 |
| 2023 | George Kittle, S.F. | 90 | 65 | 1020 | 11.3 | 6 |
| 1997 | Troy Drayton, Mia. | 50 | 39 | 558 | 11.2 | 4 |
| 2018 | Mark Andrews, Balt. | 50 | 34 | 552 | 11.0 | 3 |
| 2021 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 76 | 56 | 830 | 10.9 | 4 |
| 2019 | Jared Cook, N.O. | 65 | 43 | 705 | 10.8 | 9 |
| 2011 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 124 | 90 | 1327 | 10.7 | 17 |
| 2004 | Jeb Putzier, Den. | 54 | 36 | 572 | 10.6 | 2 |
| 2008 | Tony Scheffler, Den. | 61 | 40 | 645 | 10.6 | 3 |
| 2004 | Alge Crumpler, Atl. | 74 | 48 | 774 | 10.5 | 6 |
| 2017 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 105 | 69 | 1084 | 10.3 | 8 |
| 2022 | Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 69 | 55 | 702 | 10.2 | 3 |
| 2009 | Antonio Gates, S.D. | 114 | 79 | 1157 | 10.1 | 8 |
| 2018 | George Kittle, S.F. | 136 | 88 | 1377 | 10.1 | 5 |
| 2001 | Marcus Pollard, Ind. | 73 | 47 | 739 | 10.1 | 8 |
| 2013 | Vernon Davis, S.F. | 84 | 52 | 850 | 10.1 | 13 |
| 2008 | Visanthe Shiancoe, Min. | 59 | 42 | 596 | 10.1 | 7 |
| 2024 | Tucker Kraft, G.B. | 70 | 50 | 707 | 10.1 | 7 |
| 2020 | George Kittle, S.F. | 63 | 48 | 634 | 10.1 | 2 |
| 2012 | Rob Gronkowski, N.E. | 79 | 55 | 790 | 10.0 | 11 |
| 2020 | Robert Tonyan, G.B. | 59 | 52 | 586 | 9.9 | 11 |
| 2014 | Travis Kelce, K.C. | 87 | 67 | 862 | 9.9 | 5 |
| 2011 | Jake Ballard, NYG | 61 | 38 | 604 | 9.9 | 4 |
| 2016 | Vernon Davis, Was. | 59 | 44 | 583 | 9.9 | 2 |
| 2013 | Brent Celek, Phil. | 51 | 32 | 502 | 9.8 | 6 |
| 2019 | George Kittle, S.F. | 107 | 85 | 1053 | 9.8 | 5 |
| 2010 | Vernon Davis, S.F. | 93 | 56 | 914 | 9.8 | 7 |
| 1992 | Brent Jones, S.F. | 64 | 45 | 628 | 9.8 | 4 |
Kittle has likely benefitted these last two seasons from playing with Brock Purdy. Purdy is better than Jimmy Garoppolo. But Kyle Shanahan is probably the key, with his ability to draw up plays. The 49ers are running the ball effectively year in and year out, which tends to set up some of those long pass plays.
—Ian Allan
