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PFF: 49ers TE George Kittle is NFL's 3rd-Best Player Over 30

Somehow, George Kittle seems to get better with age.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) during the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

Somehow, George Kittle seems to get better with age.

Maybe that's because for the past few years, he has played with Brock Purdy, the best quarterback the 49ers have had since they drafted Kittle in 2017. Whatever the reason is, Kittle just had arguably the best season of his career last year. And he's 31.

That's why Pro Football Focus ranks Kittle the NFL's third-best player over 30.

"Kittle has solidified his place atop the NFL’s tight end hierarchy," writes PFF's Dalton Wasserman. "His 92.1 overall PFF grade led all players at the position, while his 92.4 receiving grade ranked second among all skill players, behind only Puka Nacua. Staying true to his all-around game, Kittle also finished second among qualified tight ends with a 70.8 run-blocking grade."

You could argue that Kittle is the biggest mismatch in the NFL. There isn't a linebacker or safety who can shut him down as a receiver. On another team, he might put up much bigger numbers. But on the 49ers, he shares targets with lots of good receivers. Plus Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy like to spread the ball around. So he doesn't get as many opportunities as Travis Kelce, for example.

But Kittle is faster than Kelce and more difficult to tackle in the open field. And Kittle is a far superior blocker than him as well. That's why Kelce ranks just 27th on this list.

It took Kittle a while, but he has officially passed up Kelce. They're both future Hall of Famers.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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