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Where 49ers Tight End George Kittle Ranks in PFF's Top 10 NFL Players

At 31 years old, George Kittle still seems to be improving.
Grant Cohn|
Jun 10, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) works out with his teammates during an OTA at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
Jun 10, 2025; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) works out with his teammates during an OTA at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

At 31 years old, George Kittle still seems to be improving.

He's coming off arguably the best season of his career, even if it didn't lead to team success for the 49ers. And while he started his career as an elite blocker and a YAC specialist, he has evolved into an elite red-zone receiver as well, as he has caught 25 touchdown passes in the past three seasons compared to just 20 in the first six seasons of his career.

That's a big reason the 49ers gave Kittle a four-year, $76.4 million extension this offseason, and it's why Kittle jumped to No. 9 in Pro Football Focus' top 50 players list.

George Kittle ranks ninth in Pro Football Focus' top 50 players

"There are few, if any, players like George Kittle in today’s NFL," writes PFF. "His rare ability to dominate both as a receiver and blocker sets him apart. Kittle led all tight ends with a 92.1 PFF grade in 2024, more than five points higher than anyone else at the position. He paired a league-best 92.4 receiving grade and 14.2 yards per reception with a 70.8 run-blocking grade, second among tight ends. With Travis Kelce showing signs of decline, Kittle enters 2025 as the clear No. 1 at his position."

Kittle probably is the best player on the 49ers. He has no holes in his game, and he's coming off a dominant season, unlike Trent Williams, Nick Bosa or Christian McCaffrey. Unfortunately for the 49ers, Kittle hasn't been able to carry the 49ers to wins the way McCaffrey has in the past.

Perhaps the 49ers will target Kittle more this year and enable him to make a greater impact. He hasn't received 100 targets in a season since 2019. That's absurd.

It will be interesting to see if the 49ers increase his workload this season, and if his body can hold up to increased physical demands.

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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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