To say that San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle had a breakout second NFL season would be an understatement. All he did was set a new NFL single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end.
Wide receiver Dante Pettis had a strong finish to his rookie campaign in 2018. Could he be in line for a breakout sophomore year of his own? Kittle isn't betting against him for several reasons.
The 49ers tight end notes that head coach Kyle Shanahan's playbook is dense, but once mastered, a player is capable of great things. The offensive scheme and versatility of the players allows everyone to make a big play.
"A guy like Dante, he's just picking it up," Kittle told reporters on Tuesday. "He's a smart dude, and he's a freak-of-nature athlete. When you have that combo, and you're no longer thinking about what routes you have, I mean, you guys saw at the end of the season last year, he had like 400 yards in the last couple of games. With that, it's very helpful."
Pettis didn't actually have 400 yards receiving in the last couple of games, as Kittle stated. He did, however, finish the season with 27 receptions for 467 yards with five touchdowns. 359 of those yards and all but one of those touchdowns came during the final five games of the season.
Spreading the average yards per game in those final five matchups over a 16-game season would put Pettis well over 1,000 yards for the year.
As for Kittle's own expectations coming off a record-setting year, he would be fine with zero catches in a game if it meant a win.
"I'm not really a guy who sets personal goals, so I'm just going to wait until Coach Shanahan tells me what plays that I'm going to catch and run for 80 yards, and I'll take advantage of those plays," Kittle said.
The 49ers struggled in the red zone last season. The offense ranked last in the league in touchdowns while inside the 20-yard line. Kittle said the team spent all of last week on red-zone plays and about six to 12 plays on it this week. He believes having quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo back will help the offense in this area but feels he too has room for improvement.
"Personally, I've just got to get better at tracking the ball and bringing it down every single time," Kittle said.
You can watch the entire Kittle press conference below, courtesy of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat's Grant Cohn.