Tight End George Kittle

Going from tight ends Vance McDonald to George Kittle has been almost night and day to this point. In Kittle’s first year, he accumulated more catches and yards (43 catches for 515 yards) than McDonald did in his first three years (40 catches for 475 yards).

Not only did Kittle outperform his predecessor, but he’s also the first 49ers tight end in four years to go over 500 yards receiving since Vernon Davis’ 2013 Pro Bowl season. Not only is he a threat with his similar size and athleticism to the former 49ers tight end, but he also takes great pride in his blocking ability.

Also, with the team not having a true No. 1 receiver, it should give Kittle more opportunities to be quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s big target. Not to mention, a lot of Kittle’s success came when Garoppolo became the starter last year in Week 13.

During those five games to close out 2017, the former Iowa Hawkeye had 15 catches on 19 targets for 224 yards and one touchdown.

In fact, Shanahan believes that the Iowa product is on his way to being a household name already:

I think George can be a very good tight end in this league. It’s rare that you have a guy who is built to block very well who also runs in the 4.5’s and who is quick enough to separate. I think George was a big part of our team last year.

We could be looking at the next big-name tight end in the league in San Francisco.