George Kittle wants to see Jimmy Garoppolo sling the football in the Pro Bowl’s classic QB Challenge

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle would like to see the return of the classic-style QB Challenge competition that used to precede the Pro Bowl. Not for himself, of course. Kittle wrote via Twitter that he is asking for a friend, and then tagged his quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo.

Kittle retweeted a video from after the 1998 season of former NFL quarterbacks Kordell Stewart, Drew Bledsoe, Jim Harbaugh, and Brett Favre taking part in the competition.

If there was one knock on Garoppolo heading into the 2018 season, it was his ability to get the football to his receivers deep downfield. Those concerns faded after he displayed an ability to hit his receivers deep during training camp.

Garoppolo had a passer rating of 62.0 on passing attempts of 20-or-more yards in 2017, according to Pro Football Focus. His passer rating on similar throws increased to 93.8 during his limited action in 2018 before suffering a season-ending ACL injury.

Garoppolo's deep-throw passer rating ranked fifth in the league among quarterbacks with 12-or-more long-distance attempts (Garoppolo had just 12). A small sample size, yes, but still good for comparison's sake.

H/t to Patrick Tulini for the find.