George Kittle Fantasy News and Statistics

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle went to three different high schools over the course of his prep career. Despite moving around, it didn’t hurt his recruiting process. When he was done weighing his collegiate options, he decided to play for the Iowa Hawkeyes at the next level.

In 2012, Kittle had to redshirt because there was not an opportunity for him to see the field right away. The next two seasons were not much better for him either as he found himself in a reserve role. As a redshirt freshman in 2013, he saw some action late in contests and had a couple of long catches, including ones for 47 yards, 24 yards and 19 yards in separate contests. He also had a 25-yard grab in 2014. As an upperclassman, however, Kittle was able to step into a starting role.

As a tight end in Iowa’s offensive system, Kittle’s primary job was to block. But he showed he was a threat to make deep catches as well. His first career touchdown came against North Texas when he made a pair of catches for 62 yards, including a scoring grab. It was the first of three straight games in which he had a touchdown catch. While he did not have any 100-yard games, Kittle made 20 catches for 290 yards and six touchdowns on the year.

After he proved he could be a primary pass-catching option on top of his sound blocking skills, Kittle ended up earning a slightly bigger role as a redshirt senior in 2016. His top performance came against North Dakota State when he made five catches for 110 yards. Despite his strong performance, the Hawkeyes fell to the Bison 23-21. It was the only game of his college career in which he made at least five catches or had 100 yards. Kittle finished the season with 22 catches for 314 yards (14.3 yards per grab) and four touchdowns.

Following that campaign, Kittle was selected to participate in the NFL Combine and he also worked out at Iowa’s Pro Day. He was considered one of the better tight ends in the draft and was selected in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers.

During his first training camp, Kittle had to compete against a handful of tight ends for the 49ers starting job, including Garrett Celek, Vance McDonald, Logan Paulsen, Blake Bell and Cole Hikutini. Among the bunch, Kittle turned out to be the most appealing choice. Head coach Kyle Shanahan picked him to be the starter at the beginning of the season.

Kittle proved to be a productive tight end during his first year despite his team’s obvious struggles at quarterback. The Niners went through three different quarterback as they started the year 1-10 before they found an answer in Jimmy Garoppolo, who they traded for midseason.

With Garoppolo likely being the team’s quarterback of the future, Kittle could be an intriguing fantasy option moving forward. Even before Garoppolo was on the team, he showed his worth by making seven catches on nine targets for 83 yards and a touchdown in an overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts on October 8.