What the Over/Under for Receiving Yards is for George Kittle in 2023

George Kittle had an incredible season in 2022.

Look no further than being named to the Pro Bowl and as an All-Pro on the second team. I guess scoring a career high 11 touchdowns to go along with being a destructive run blocker has its perks. But where Kittle ended up lacking at was with receiving yards as he tallied 765 of them on 60 catches.

He became more of a touchdown scorer than a drive sustainer like he's usually been in his career. You have to wonder if that is going to be his role going forward because him and Brock Purdy have a great connection getting to the endzone. That is why DraftKings sportsbook has set the over/under for receiving yards for Kittle at 725.5 in 2023.

So, will Kittle have over or under 725.5 receiving yards in 2023?

I'm going with the under without hesitation. For starters, there are way too many mouths to feed in the 49ers offense. Not every star skill player is going to get close to or over 1,000 yards. Deebo Samuel should have a nice rebound year, Christian McCaffrey now gets a full season with the 49ers, Brandon Aiyuk continues to ascend, and then there is the rest of the role players that cut into the yardage. Where does Kittle fit into that?

If anything, it is actually in his best interest to reduce his yards because he generally accumulates that after the catch. That exposes him to more hits, and you never know where his body is at given the randomness of his injuries. Where Kittle will really be a monster is scoring touchdowns. Look how he scored 11 last year. He became a real threat and all it took was a quarterback to actually look his way. I think that will be where he anchors himself in the 49ers offense. He'll still have a few games where he dominates in yards, but I think it will be more hit or miss for him.

There are also the two tight ends that the 49ers drafted, so they will definitely cut a bit into the receiving end for Kittle. It's not like they drafted these guys to be depth in case Kittle is missing. They are here to be integrated in the offense this year if they can prove to get the offense down and be effective. Kittle can go back to focusing on blocking, and that is what I think Kyle Shanahan is hoping for, so defenses start to forget about him. Kind of like how when the 49ers went to Seattle in their division title winning game where they executed a phenomenal play to get the Seahawks defense to forget about Kittle.

Which side of the over/under are you taking with Kittle?