The San Francisco 49ers entered the 2025 NFL season with one of the league's largest rookie classes, using 11 draft picks to reshape a roster that lost several veteran contributors during a busy offseason. Tight end George Kittle sees similarities between this year's group of rookies and his own 2017 draft class, and he expects several of them to make an immediate impact.
"I'm expecting a lot of them to contribute at a high level," Kittle told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area this week while attending the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe.
Kittle reflected on his rookie year, when he and several fellow 2017 draftees were thrown into significant roles during head coach Kyle Shanahan's first season in San Francisco. Like this year, that team was going through a significant revamp.
"It kind of reminds me of my rookie class," Kittle said. "They expected, basically, our whole draft class to play and perform, and I think a lot of us did play and perform our rookie year."
The difference in 2025? The 49ers still boast one of the NFL's most talented cores, featuring proven stars like Kittle, quarterback Brock Purdy, running back Christian McCaffrey, linebacker Fred Warner, and defensive end Nick Bosa.
"We still have a fantastic foundation of vets who have been there, from our D-line, linebackers, tight ends, running back, quarterbacks, offensive line," Kittle continued. "It's just [up to] us to uphold the standard and get those guys as game-ready as quickly as possible."
Kittle stressed the importance of accelerating the rookies' development as a key to the 49ers' success in 2025.
"[We've got to] try to make practice as game-like as possible," he explained. "And I think Kyle does a really good job about that, with our move-the-ball periods and getting guys acclimated really quickly."
Rather than overwhelming the newcomers with the entire scheme and playbook being thrown at them all at once, Kittle expects the coaching staff to break things down gradually, allowing them a smoother learning curve and better opportunity to absorb the system, build confidence, and contribute early in the season.
"But truly just get them out there, get them good reps, keep them healthy," Kittle said. "That's the biggest thing as a rookie. You've just got to stay healthy through training camp. Then, you can get all those reps. You get those couple of hundred reps that can kind of prepare you for what you think the speed of the NFL is going to be."
Jordan Watkins impresses, Kittle gears up for Mykel Williams matchup
Kittle highlighted one rookie who has already caught his attention—Jordan Watkins, the wide receiver drafted in the fourth round. Watkins received extended practice reps during the offseason program due to the absences of Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, and Ricky Pearsall.
Jennings and Pearsall, the projected Week 1 starters, are expected to be ready for training camp. Aiyuk, however, continues to recover from ACL and MCL injuries suffered in October 2024.
"I wasn't taking team reps, Aiyuk's not out there, Jauan missed most of it, Ricky's not out there, so he (Watkins) was kind of force-fed," Kittle said. "But when you're force-fed, you still have to take advantage of those opportunities—and he did. And that's the baseline. Can you take advantage of these opportunities? And he [did]."
Kittle is eager to see how Watkins builds on that early momentum.
"I think he's going to come in and be pretty ready for training camp," he added. "I'm excited to see him play. I'm really excited to see how, wide receiver-wise, how Ricky and Jake Cowing come in. I'm looking forward to seeing those guys."
On the defensive side of the ball, Kittle is also keeping an eye on second-round pick Mykel Williams, the powerful edge rusher from Georgia. Kittle noted that the rookie told teammates that he finds it disrespectful when tight ends are asked to block him—an area in which Kittle enjoys and thrives.
"I was like, 'Welcome to the NFL, baby. You're going to see something different in these practices, I promise you that,'" Kittle said with a grin.