TE George Kittle - San Francisco 49ers

6-4, 247

Born: 10-9-1993

College: Iowa

Drafted: Round 5, pick 2017

Main Career stats Game Logs Game Recaps Split Stats Play-by-play Latest News

Photo: Sergio Estrada, US Presswire

Traditional view FanDuel view DraftKings view

Preseason player page

Kittle (ankle, knee) is unlikely to play in Week 11

He is listed as doubtful on this week's official injury report.

News you need to know

General News (Fri Nov 15): did not practice on Friday and is not expected to play this week.

General News (Thu Nov 14): partially participated in Thursday's practice.

General News (Thu Nov 14): did not practice on Wednesday.

General News (Wed Nov 13): has not yet been ruled out, a team spokesman said Wednesday, Nov. 13. The spokesman said head coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to say that the team has to "plan" as if Kittle will not play. However, he is still considered unlikely to be available.

General News (Tue Nov 12): is day-to-day, although head coach Kyle Shanahan is "hopeful" Kittle will be able to play in Week 11 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Week 11: vs Arizona Cardinals

All TE vs ARI

FBG says: Great matchup. The San Francisco 49ers are in a tough situation here in week 11, as they may be without their top two pass-catchers for this game against the Arizona Cardinals. Tight end George Kittle missed last week's game against the Seattle Seahawks due to knee and ankle injuries stemming from an ugly hit he took two weeks ago. In Kittle's absence last week, Rob Dwelley stepped into the starting role, playing 90-percent of offensive snaps and commanding 7 targets throughout the game against Seattle. If Kittle is unable to suit up this weekend, expect Dwelley to thrive as the team's starter in an elite matchup with the Cardinals' porous pass defense. Next, at wide receiver, Emmanuel Sanders also left last week's game due to a rib cartilage injury that has him slated to be a game-time decision this weekend. In his absence, rookie Deebo Samuel stepped up and tallied 8 catches for 112 yards on 11 targets on the day. Should Sanders miss out on week 11's matchup with the Arizona Cardinals, Samuel should be in line for another high-volume day through the air. Elsewhere in the receiving corps, the 49ers struggled mightily with drops. Kendrick Bourne led all other receivers in volume, with 8 targets on the day, but his untimely drops may have ultimately cost his team the game on Monday night, which may adversely affect his playing time going forward. Jimmy Garoppolo has been trending upwards in recent weeks, and a soft matchup against the Arizona Cardinals' pass defense here in week 11 should keep that going this week, even if his top-tier pass-catchers are unavailable for the game. Arizona's up-tempo offense maximizes not only their offense's scoring opportunities, but also their oppositions. This up-tempo attack has led to their pass defense defending the ninth-most pass attempts so far this season. Given the lack of pass-defending talent on Arizona's defense, this has led to some gaudy passing totals for their opposition, including at least 317 passing yards for 4 of their last 5 opponents. In the trenches, Chandler Jones is a one-man-wrecking crew. Jones leads the NFL with 11.5 sacks off the edge for the Cardinals this season, but aside from an aging Terrelle Suggs, he is getting little support elsewhere in the pass-rush. At the linebacker position, starters Jordan Hicks and Haason Reddick are especially poor pass-defenders. This weakness over the middle of the field has allowed opposing tight ends to have a field day against the Cardinals this year. The Cardinals rank dead-last in the NFL, allowing 21.4 DraftKings points per game to opposing tight ends in 2019. Then, in the secondary, veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson, who has played in only four games this season due to a seven-game suspension to open the year, is questionable this weekend due to a calf injury. The Cardinals' pass defense is already one of the weakest in the NFL with Peterson on the field, and if they are forced to turn to Chris Jones, the backup, it will almost certainly get worse. Expect Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers' passing attack to have a field day once again against the Cardinals, just as they did two weeks ago.

Recent Stats and Projections

WEEK	OPP		oSNAP	REC	YD	TD	FumL	Pts
7	at WAS		61	3.0	38	0	0	3.8
8	vs CAR		56	6.0	86	0	0	8.6
9	at ARI		51	6.0	79	1	0	13.9
11	vs ARI	PROJ-Dodds	*	0.0	*	*	*	*
11	vs ARI	PROJ-Tremblay	*	0.0	*	*	*	*
11	vs ARI	PROJ-Bloom	*	0.0	*	*	*	*

Weekly Performance vs TE 1, TE 12, TE 24

Percentile ranks

George Kittle's percentile rank in each category, among TE with more than 50 fantasy points.

Recent Game Summaries

2019 Week 9 vs ARI (8 / 6 / 79 / 1 rec)

After taking a direct hit to his knee on San Francisco's first play, Kittle did well simply continuing in the game, let alone having his typical productive performance. Two-thirds of his receiving yardage and his first quarter touchdown came on only two plays. For his touchdown, Kittle beat the press man coverage of safety Budda Baker on a quick slant out of the right slot. He then stiff-armed Baker at the 10-yard line to finish off his run after the catch. In the third quarter, Kittle had a 23-yard catch wherein he beat linebacker Jordan Hicks on a quick slant across the middle. This was one of several times Arizona chose to cover Kittle with a linebacker for some reason.

2019 Week 8 vs CAR (7 / 6 / 86 / 0 rec)

In what has to be trolling from someone, somewhere, Kittle once again had a touchdown nullified by penalty. Another red zone touchdown was prevented by the pass interference of safety Eric Reid. Later in the game, he beat Reid down the seam for 25 yards. On Kittle's 29-yard first quarter reception, linebacker Shaq Thompson covered him downfield, but then passed him off to a deep defender who was nowhere to be found. The rest of Kittle's yardage came on a couple of tight ends screens, which Kyle Shanahan hadn't used to a significant extent this season.

2019 Week 7 vs WAS (5 / 3 / 38 / 0 rec, 2 / 0 / 0 rush)

All three of Kittle's catches came on 3rd-and-long, and all three converted first downs. The latter two of these were especially crucial, as they extended both of San Francisco's fourth-quarter scoring drives. There wasn't much more receiving output available than that given the playing conditions. Perhaps that's why Kyle Shanahan introduced a new wrinkle in his Kittle usage; namely, handing the ball off to him? If anything, this just further confirms Kittle's taken over a good portion of the fullback role vacated by Kyle Juszczyk's injury.

2019 Week 6 vs LAR (8 / 8 / 103 / 0 rec)

With Kyle Juszczyk out injured, Kittle lined up in the backfield relatively frequently. His longest reception of the game (45 yards) came out of this presnap alignment, with Kittle faking a lead block in play-action, and (somehow) going completely uncovered into the Rams zone. From there, he stiff-armed one would-be tackler and carried three others down to the 6-yard line a la Mark Bavaro. Kittle also came up big on a second quarter drive that started with the 49ers backed up into the shadow of their own goal posts. In the span of two plays, both Kittle receptions, San Francisco went from 3rd-and-6 from the 5-yard line to 1st-and-10 at the 27.

2019 Week 5 vs CLE (8 / 6 / 70 / 1 rec, 1 / 18 / 0 rush)

Kittle did his usual Kittle things (i.e., being the straw that stirs both the passing game and running game drinks), so let's focus on his 22-yard touchdown catch. It turns out that this was just a blown coverage by safety Morgan Burnett. Cleveland initially lined up in three-deep coverage, but Kyle Juszczyk's presnap shift to slot receiver made Burnett shade towards that side of the field. The problem was that when Juszczyk ran down the seam, Burnett -- for whatever reason -- chose to double-team him with the linebacker instead of covering Kittle, thereby leaving him wide open for the touchdown.

2019 Week 3 vs PIT (8 / 6 / 57 / 0 rec)

Kittle's biggest impact came late in the fourth quarter during San Francisco's game-winning drive. To start things off, he turned what should have been a 4-yard gain into a 9-yard gain by making multiple defenders miss. Later in the drive, he drew a defensive holding penalty on safety Mark Barron that turned a 3rd-and-11 into a 1st-and-goal.

2019 Week 2 vs CIN (3 / 3 / 54 / 0 rec)

Kittle had less fantasy production than in Week 1 because a) San Francisco repeatedly exploited his advantage as a run blocker over Cincinnati's outside defenders, and b) he was seemingly priority number one for Cincinnati's safeties regardless of what else was happening on the play. To this latter point, Marquise Goodwin's wide-open, first-quarter touchdown was thanks in part to Jessie Bates III, who was the last line of defense as a single-high safety, biting hard on Kittle's short route across the middle.

2019 Week 1 vs TB (10 / 8 / 54 / 0 rec)

In a sign of what's likely to come this season, Kittle was targeted four times on the 49ers' first drive alone. One of those targets doesn't show up in his stats because it was an 8-yard touchdown nullified by penalty. Then, late in the first half, Kittle had yet another touchdown taken off the scoreboard. Even though it didn't count, this one was Kittle's most impressive play of the game, as he bounced off 214-pound safety Darian Stewart's tackle attempt as if he wasn't even there.

Latest News

49ers | Doubtful tag for George Kittle (Fri Nov 15, 05:49 PM) - San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle (ankle, knee) did not participate in practice Friday, Nov. 15, and is listed as doubtful for Week 11.

Our View: Ross Dwelley will get the start in a true test of whether it's a good idea to play any tight end against the Cardinals.
link to story

49ers | Thursday practice report for SF (Thu Nov 14, 07:48 PM) - San Francisco 49ers PK Robbie Gould (quadriceps), DT D.J. Jones (groin), TE George Kittle (ankle, knee) and OT Joe Staley (finger) did not participate in practice Thursday, Nov. 14. LB Azeez Al-Shaair (concussion), TE Garrett Celek (back), DE Dee Ford (quadriceps), WR Dante Pettis (back), TE Levine Toilolo (groin) and CB Ahkello Witherspoon (foot, quadriceps) were limited during practice.

link to story

49ers | George Kittle not yet ruled out (Wed Nov 13, 09:30 PM) - Updating a previous report, San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle (ankle, knee) has not yet been ruled out, a team spokesman said Wednesday, Nov. 13. The spokesman said head coach Kyle Shanahan wanted to say that the team has to 'plan' as if Kittle will not play. However, he is still considered unlikely to be available.

link to story

49ers | Wednesday practice report for 49ers (Wed Nov 13, 08:59 PM) - San Francisco 49ers LB Azeez Al-Shaair (concussion), PK Robbie Gould (quadriceps), DT D.J. Jones (groin), TE George Kittle (ankle, knee) and OT Joe Staley (finger) did not participate in practice Wednesday, Nov. 13. TE Garrett Celek (back), DE Dee Ford (quadriceps), TE Levine Toilolo (groin) and CB Ahkello Witherspoon (foot, quadriceps) were limited during practice.

link to story

49ers | George Kittle to miss Week 11 (Wed Nov 13, 08:09 PM) - San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle (ankle, knee) will not be able to play in the Week 11 game, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.

link to story

More News