49ers’ George Kittle is the NFL’s highest-graded tight end, per PFF

Second-year tight end George Kittle bullied his way to five catches for 98 yards with a touchdown on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. Once again, he was a force on the football field for the San Francisco 49ers and a bright spot in an otherwise frustrating season.

Fans probably recall the following play when quarterback C.J. Beathard found Kittle for a 23-yard gain. Along the way, the 49ers tight end carried cornerback Troy Hill about eight yards after contact.

Kittle played with anger. Who could blame him? His team was down 22-0 with two minutes left in the first half. If the entire team played with the type of intensity that Kittle often puts on display, it might have more than one win right now.

Kittle is trying to make plays for his offense, and if you're a defender in his way, you may pay the price.

"You've got to play angry," Kittle said following the 39-10 defeat. "If you don't play angry then you're not playing. It's easy when you're angry, and you're having fun.

"If a guy is going to not throw his body at me and he looks like he's just going to sit there with his chest open, I'm going to put my helmet through his chest. That's his fault if he's sore in the morning."

The 49ers could use a lot more of that type of intensity. Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice has already expressed disappointment in the team's lack of veteran leadership, pointing to wide receiver Pierre Garçon's one catch for five yards against the Rams as just a single example.

"If I had one catch for five yards, I would be pissed right now," Rice said on Monday morning during an interview on 95.7 The Game. "I would be going off. Sometimes you need to see that type of emotion from a certain player and I don't think he's that type of player."

In Garçon's defense, he did exit the game several times due to a knee injury. While he leads all 49ers wide receivers this season, his reception yards trail both a tight end and a fullback.

Garçon is an 11-year veteran while Kittle is seven games removed from his rookie campaign. Following Sunday's loss, Kittle said the Rams were already behind him, and he was looking toward the Arizona Cardinals — the 49ers' next opponent. You could tell, however, the young tight end was not happy about his team's fifth-straight defeat.

Kittle has 32 receptions for 527 yards with two touchdowns this season. That puts him on pace for 73 catches for 1,205 yards. Kittle leads the team in receptions and receiving yards. The 25-year-old is also the highest-graded tight end on the NFL, according to analytics site Pro Football Focus.

While several second-year 49ers players appear to be going through a sophomore slump, Kittle is flourishing within head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense. The tight end struggled through injuries as a rookie and is finally healthy.

"His numbers are a lot better," Shanahan told reporters on Monday. "He's a lot healthier. Yeah, I think Kittle, similar to some of those other people we were talking about, he hasn't hit the sophomore slump. He's improved in that way in the fact that he got a lot of playing time last year. He got thrown into a ton of situations starting from the first game to the last game, battled through a bunch of injuries."

A "bunch of injuries" doesn't even begin to paint a picture of what Kittle went through last season. He dealt with hamstring, calf, hip, chest, back, elbow, and ankle injuries. The high-ankle injury prevented Kittle from properly planting his foot. Still, he finished the season with 43 receptions for 515 yards with two touchdowns.

Kittle has already surpassed that reception total through seven games this year.

A separated shoulder during the 49ers' first exhibition game this year kept Kittle out until the regular-season opener. The numbers he has put up during his second NFL season aren't surprising to Shanahan. It's what the coaching staff expected from the tight end last season.

"I think we had a lot higher expectations for George going into last year than a lot of people realize," Shanahan continued. "I think he did too, knowing how training camp went and OTAs and stuff. Then he started the year out getting so banged up. He wasn't able to reach all of that stuff. He ended strong, but I think George learned through the first year.

"He knew he could play in the league, but I think he learned how hard it is to stay healthy throughout a year. I think he's taken better care of his body throughout this offseason, what he does day in and day out, how physical he plays throughout a game, what he does Monday through Saturday just to get his body back ready to play on Sunday. So, it's been a complete credit to him, just how well he's taken care of himself."

Just how impressive of a season is Kittle having? 49ers.com senior reporter Joe Fann offered up the following.