49ers work out LB Steve Beauharnais

The seven-man pass protection in today's NFL seems a little foreign, considering how much the tight end position has evolved over the last 20 years. Today's hybrid tight end, a man built from DNA spliced from a sprinter, basketball player and professional wrestler, has an integral role in the passing attack. A generation ago, San Francisco 49ers tight end Brent Jones finished his career averaging 36.3 receiving yards per game. Flash twenty-five years in the future and tight end George Kittle is averaging 65.4 yards per game over his first three seasons. Head coach Kyle Shanahan's system is firmly rooted in the West Coast Offense, even mimicking some of Bill Walsh's old

Kyle Shanahan spoke with the voice of the San Francisco 49ers, Greg Papa, during the team's virtual State of the Franchise event this week. The head coach was asked what he sees from his quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, who isn't worried about recovering from an ACL injury this offseason. "I think Jimmy had an unbelievable year last year," Shanahan said. "When you look at him statistically, just percentages and stuff of what he did, he's extremely accurate, kept us in some very good situations, and won a few games for us, too. He had a number of games where he had to come out huge on some 3rd-and-longs, some last-minute drives, and make some big plays that won us some games." Shanahan noted Garoppolo's improvement from last offseason, to the start of the regular

The San Francisco 49ers and star tight end George Kittle are currently working on a contract extension. The two sides have been for awhile. No one outside of the franchise knows how close the two sides are. What is known is the type of money Kittle is seeking. Kittle wants to be paid like a top offensive tackle or wide receiver. His agent went public with this info nearly a month ago. Since then there has been silence from both sides. They could be far apart. Heck, they could have already agreed considering the team managed to keep DeForest Buckner's permission to seek a trade and head coach Kyle Shanahan's extension secrets for MONTHS. It wouldn't be surprising if they aren't close however. This is because the 49ers hold every ounce of leverage in this situation