By the time he finishes his tenure with the San Francisco 49ers, George Kittle will be considered the greatest tight end in team history. But does Kittle already have that title? His three-touchdown performance Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys added to his lore.
There have been some great tight ends for the 49ers before Kittle, namely Brent Jones and Vernon Davis. Before we get into the argument about who is the greatest, let's take a look at the numbers:
Brent Jones
11 seasons (all with the 49ers)
3-time Super Bowl Champion
143 games played
4-time Pro Bowler
2-time second-team All-Pro
417 receptions
5195 yards receiving
33 touchdowns
12.5 yards per reception
Postseason numbers: 60 receptions, 740 receiving yards, 5 touchdowns (in 21 postseason games)
Vernon Davis
10 seasons with the 49ers
One Super Bowl appearance
139 games played
2-time Pro Bowler
0 All-Pro teams
441 receptions
5640 yards receiving
55 touchdowns
12.8 yards per reception
Postseason numbers: 27 receptions, 600 receiving yards, 7 touchdowns (in 8 postseason games with the 49ers)
George Kittle
6 full seasons (plus 5 games so far in 2023)
One Super Bowl appearance
87 games played
4-time Pro Bowler
1 first-team All-Pro, 2-time second-team All-Pro
412 receptions
5469 yards receiving
34 touchdowns
13.3 yards per reception
Postseason numbers: 25 receptions, 343 receiving yards, 1 touchdown (in 9 postseason games)
How do you rate the greatness of a tight end? Is it numbers alone? Championships? Tenure? Game impact?
It's really a combination of these things, and each fan probably has his or her favorite. In the argument of Kittle versus Jones and Davis, there are some key numbers to look at:
- Jones is a 3-time Super Bowl Champion. Neither Davis nor Kittle even has one, though both have been close. Painfully, Davis came within five yards, Kittle came within seven minutes.
- Kittle and Jones have twice as many Pro Bowls as Davis. Both are multiple-time All-Pros, as well, while Davis was never named All-Pro in his time with the 49ers.
- All three tight ends are close to each other in catches and receiving yards. Kittle only needs five more receptions to pass Jones and only 29 more to pass Davis. Kittle has already passed Jones in receiving yards and needs only 171 yards to pass Davis. It should be noted that Kittle has played 57 fewer games than Davis, and 61 fewer games than Jones. And Kittle is still playing, so he will end up with more receptions and yards maybe as early as this season.
- When it comes to receiving touchdowns, Davis (55) is far ahead of Kittle, who has 34, one more than Jones.
- Kittle's yards per reception is a little higher than the other two, but not by much.
- When you compare postseason numbers, it's not really close, because Jones played in so many, while Kittle and Davis played on some bad teams before they started making the playoffs. Even then, Davis was much more prolific in the postseason than Kittle, even though he played fewer games.
- As blockers, Jones was good, Davis was better, and Kittle has been outstanding.
What about the teams they played on?
- Jones had Bill Walsh, Mike Holmgren, and Mike Shanahan calling his plays. Kittle has had Kyle Shanahan. Davis had some pretty bad play-callers. Even his most successful coach, Jim Harbaugh, had Greg Roman, who wasn't the best play-caller for a passing attack.
- Jones had Joe Montana and Steve Young as his quarterbacks. Davis mostly had Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick. Kittle has mostly caught passes from Jimmy Garoppolo, Brock Purdy, and Nick Mullens.
- Jones played with Jerry Rice, John Taylor, Roger Craig, and Ricky Watters. Kittle plays with Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, and Brandon Aiyuk. Davis played Frank Gore...and...that's it. Unless you count Micahel Crabtree. But Richard Sherman told us what we already knew about Crabtree.
How does that help the argument? You can make the case that since Davis didn't really have anyone to help him in the passing game, the pressure was on him. You can also argue that it was easier for Davis because there were no other weapons to compete with. All the passes went his way.
Consider what it was like for Jones. He not only had Craig, Watters, and Taylor taking away some of his targets, but he had the greatest statistical hog in NFL history on his team for his entire career. Jones would never get the targets Davis and Kittle got because the offense went through Rice first. Understandably so.
So how do you decide who is the best? In the end, Kittle should have most of the numbers to make his case. Jones will have the championships, but it's hard to argue against the career Kittle has built and is still building. Which do you value more? The numbers and impact of Kittle? The championships of Jones? The sheer power and speed of Davis?
It's really about each fan's perspective, but by the time it's said and done, George Kittle will likely be considered the greatest tight end in 49ers history.