49ers’ K’Waun Williams discusses what makes George Kittle so special

Cornerback K'Waun Williams knows a thing or two about going against San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle. Williams sees Kittle regularly during practices. Then on Sundays, Williams watches the impact his teammate makes against opposing defenses.

Williams joined Keiana Martin of 49ers.com for this week's 49ers Live and was asked what makes the two-time Pro Bowl tight end so special.

"Just his mindset, his mentality," Williams responded. "He works hard, puts in the time. You just know you're going to get a fierce competitor coming at you every play.

"Blocking in the run game, he's going to make big catches, the YAC (yards after the catch) king, he's just going to impose his will on his opponents.

"Just going against him a lot, I've watched him grow these past three years, and it's just amazing. He's turned himself into a great leader and one of the best tight ends in the league, right now."

Kittle was named the Yahoo! Fantasy Performer of the Game after earning 16.4 fan points for fantasy football owners during Week 16. He is 33 receiving yards shy of his second consecutive 1,000-or-more-yard season.

The 49ers are preparing for their Week 17 rematch against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night. Kittle did not play during the first meeting between the two teams — a Week 10 overtime loss. He will be on the field on Sunday.

"He's a great player," Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said via a conference call earlier this week. "Any time you don't have a great player, you miss him in some regards. You can't replace that guy. We all work to try to figure that out, but the fact that he's back, they've got their focal-point player in their program. That causes issues and concerns.

"We won't be able to play them the way we played them last time. We have to do things much differently because he's in the game."