The bar has officially been set. 49ers tight end George Kittle broke out in his second season with a team record for a tight end 88 catches, and NFL record for a tight end with 1,377 receiving yards. Our friends at Touchdown Wire envisioned Kittle surpassing last year’s production in their list of bold predictions for this season.
Here’s what author Barry Werner had to say about his prediction:
George Kittle went from 43 receptions to 88 in his first two seasons. Expect to see those numbers to continue to rise in his third year. Kittle also should be on the receiving end of double-digit TD passes as he shows he is one of the elite TEs.
As talented as Kittle is, and as creative as Kyle Shanahan is at getting him open, it’s hard to envision the tight end eclipsing his record-setting 2018 campaign in his third season.
That’s not to say the Pro Bowler can’t put together another All-Pro caliber season. He’s dominant enough to perennially be in that conversation. However, an influx of weapons on offense, especially at receiver, could put a dent in Kittle’s overall production.
He led the 49ers in targets last season with 136. That accounted for 26.5 percent of all the passes thrown by 49ers quarterbacks. It’s difficult to imagine a player getting that many looks with an improved Dante Pettis, healthy Marquise Goodwin and Trent Taylor, and rookie receiver Deebo Samuel eating into those targets. In fact, Kittle earning more than a quarter of the targets again this season probably spells disaster for a 49ers offense that aimed to get healthy and add a deeper cache of weapons this offseason.
Kittle can still put up a dominant year from a production standpoint in 2019 without improving on last year’s numbers. A 75-catch, 900-yard outing with seven or eight touchdowns is still going to get him a Pro Bowl nod and possibly an All-Pro spot. He may even be a better all around player. It’s just going to be extremely difficult for him to come through on TD Wire’s prediction of adding to last year’s numbers.
