Who is the best player on the San Francisco 49ers roster? Tight end George Kittle didn't hesitate with his answer. Of course, there was one ground rule. Trent Williams had to be removed as an option. That's because Kittle has made it clear that he considers his Pro Bowl and All-Pro offensive tackle teammate the best player in football, period.
So who does that leave at the top of the tight end's list?
"[DE Nick] Bosa," Kittle quickly responded when asked the question on the Pardon My Take podcast last week.
The tight end continued down the list, ranking the 49ers' top players. Next up was linebacker Fred Warner.
"He's a fantastic football player," Kittle shared. "He's like the heartbeat of our defense. The reason that we're so good and we fly around like we do, it's mostly because of Fred."
Kittle puts himself next on the list. He added another name to keep an eye on during the upcoming season.
"I think one guy that you guys are going to love to watch is [WR] Brandon Aiyuk," Kittle said. "Holy cow. He was cooking our defense all of OTAs. It was so fun to watch. ... We have like six mouths to feed on our offense. And so, if he was in an offense where he was the number one choice and got 12 targets a game, he'd probably have 1,400 yards and 15 touchdowns a year. He's fantastic."
Last season, Aiyuk racked up over 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his NFL career, adding a career-high eight touchdowns. However, the wideout believes he is just scratching the surface of his potential.
"I'm about to take off," Aiyuk declared in May. "That's it. ... We all know it's football. Nothing's ever guaranteed, but just getting a better understanding for my life as a person, and then as a football player, kind of putting those things together and then just looking to get better.
"I feel like, now, having another offseason [to build upon], coming out here again for another OTA spring ball, whatever you want to call it, being able to work with those guys, being able to work on my craft, being able to get better and just continue to look to get better."
San Francisco made Aiyuk the No. 25 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Realizing Brock Purdy can play
No interview with a 49ers player would be complete without a question about last year's surprise rookie sensation, Brock Purdy. The quarterback stormed onto the NFL scene during Week 13, replacing injured passers Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
San Francisco preceded to go undefeated with Purdy under center until the NFC Championship Game when the rookie quarterback suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow.
When did Kittle realize that Purdy belonged in the NFL and wasn't just a product of head coach Kyle Shanahan's quarterback-friendly system?
"Honestly, his first game," Kittle said. "We're playing Miami, Jimmy gets hurt. Purdy comes in, and Miami decided to Zero Blitz us, like five straight times. And it was his first 3rd down, and they ran Cover Zero, two guys completely free, and he hit me on a 3rd-and-7, hit me on a perfect play right down the middle. And I was like, 'All right, you can play a little bit.'
"And then the next [3rd] down, they did it again, and he hit [WR] Deebo [Samuel] on a play. And I was like, 'All right.' And sitting in Cover Zero and being able to hit that—we were telling you, 'Hey, this is the Cover Zero route to hit this guy—but to be able to step up in a pocket knowing that you're about to get hit by a blitzing Mike linebacker and there's nothing you can do about it, that takes some balls."
From the start of his impressive run, Purdy looked like a veteran leader. There were few hints that the young quarterback was in his first NFL season.
"I think one of the coolest things with Brock is that you can just kind of see his savviness in the pocket, too," Kittle said. "Like, he's got really good pocket awareness. He played 48 games in college, so he knows how to play the quarterback position.
"And then the other thing I love about Brock is players that have had success but have also failed—like, in college, he had two pretty not great years, his last two years of college—and so it humbles you. But to be able to come back from failure and then play at a high level, you got grit, and you know how to play the game.
"So that's one of my favorite things about Brock. And granted, he didn't really fail too much in the NFL. He went 8-0 and just got the Niners super red hot. But he's got a lot of intangibles. He's fantastic in the huddle, too. He's stepping in there, and the quarterback gives the energy for the play. If your quarterback comes there and he looks nervous, you're kind of like, 'Oh, boy.'
"But you didn't really feel that with Brock. It was just like he had a handle on things, and he had a confidence to him, and there's certain things you can't really coach."
