George Kittle will be under increased pressure for 49ers
George Kittle signed his well-deserved five-year, $75 million extension this week with the San Francisco 49ers.
Kittle, 26, is arguably the best tight end in football, drawing acclaim in the same regard as Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs and Zach Ertz of the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, entering his fourth NFL season — all with San Francisco — Kittle has both increased team and personal expectations along with the responsibility of beating the best defensive coordinators can throw at him every week.
With Emmanuel Sanders leaving in free agency for the New Orleans Saints and Deebo Samuel recovering from a foot injury (it’s unclear if he will miss any regular season time), coordinators will focus on Kittle more than ever before.
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The 49ers were the NFC’s most run-heavy team in 2019. They figure to top the distance more in 2020 behind head coach Kyle Shanahan’s exotic schemes. Kittle is essentially a tackle in those situations. He can be the most devastating blocker at his position since the halcyon days of Rob Gronkowski. In the passing game, he’s a runaway locomotive, evidenced by two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and a First-Team All-Pro honor last year.
While Kittle has been the top target for two years, it comes a bit differently this time around.
With San Francisco as one of the premier teams now, there comes an increased focus from opponents. Kittle will draw doubles consistently, especially since the receivers are either ailing or underwhelming. In 2018, Kittle was largely an unknown and last year, he had the support of Samuel and eventually Sanders, drawing coverage away.
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None of this is to suggest Kittle won’t be a dominant force in 2020, because everything points to him having another monster campaign. The point is Kittle is now being paid superstar money on a team with precious few top options in the passing game. Should he falter at all, the critics will start whispering as a result. It’s the nature of professional sports.
If all goes according to plan in San Francisco, the 49ers will continue to run at will. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will keep using play-action to suck up linebackers and destroy defenses with intermediate throws. Meanwhile, Kittle will feast on overmatched defenses attempting to respect the run and stop the pass.
It’s the most-likely scenario considering all the components. Additionally, one Kittle has to dreaming of when he’s thinking about fulfilling his record-setting deal.
