1st Team All Pro - TE George Kittle Thread

Originally posted by okdkid:
I'm assuming you mean a TE1...because he obviously can be a decent TE. If we're talking about in the context of a TE1 -- then I would say that I have no confidence he can be a consistent threat all over the field. Yes, he is explosive and that helps. I think his hands are subpar. And I have my doubts he can stay healthy -- but happy to have him prove me wrong.

But as you said -- we can't judge him, even the good. So, why not try to improve the position? He should have to beat somebody out. Why gift him TE1 status? Very few players on this roster have earned that right.

Again, I'm not saying he's a bad TE. I'm saying I wouldn't consider the position "set" because we have Kittle. We can do better. I don't think there's a single defense in the NFL that gives a s**t that they have to play against George Kittle.

Maybe not right at this moment but if he continues to play like he did over the last five games of the season then he is going to be someone that other teams will have to account for moving forward. Nor sure why it is that some people think if a player isn't an All Pro as a rookie that he is only going to be "adequate". You should revisit some of the clips of his catches with Garopollo. The guy can really move once he gets the ball in his hands. Though he had some issues with drops early on he became far more reliable as the season progressed. Celek is solid and that kid they had on the practice squad came with the reputation of being a pretty good receiver out of college. Certainly no reason to not draft another TE if there is one they like but it certainly isn't a priority. And just from a personnel standpoint I always prefer homegrown talent to flash signings such as guys like Gronkowski, or Graham, who as I said in another post about someone else, seem like the kind of guys you sign if you are getting ready to make a playoff run and need one more weapon in the arsenal. Since that isn't really the case here I would be content to let them roll with Kittle and find out what he can do.

Originally posted by AmpLee:

Originally posted by 49erphan:

Originally posted by Bluesbro:
Wow, no one has posted in the Kittle thread since early January. I had to do a search to find it. I wanted to talk about the 'red zone target' topic. Am I alone in thinking this guy could develop into a legit RZ threat? He had some nice flashes when JG assumed the controls.

I think Kittle is probably going to be a good to very good TE in general, but I'm not sure if the red zone will be one of his particular strengths. I recall one pass from Jimmy G where because of the rush he had to get rid of the ball and he decided to go high to Kittle in the middle of the end zone where Kittle was covered in front by at least two defenders. It looked like Jimmy G put it high enough where he thought either Kittle would get it or it would go out of bounds over his head. Kittle was able to get about half a finger length higher than the defenders and was able to touch the ball but it basically went sailing on out of bounds. If he just a couple more inches of vertical leap ability, I think he would have caught that ball over the defenders.

You can't tell much by one play, but his vertical jump height at his combine last year was pretty average for a TE (many of his other numbers are very good though - like a fast 40 time for a TE - 13 fastest ever). In the compressed area of the red zone and especially within the end zone itself, the ability of a TE to elevate higher than defenders is important. I think he also could use some improvement in coming back for the ball and fighting for the ball - not that he's bad at those things, but in the red zone I think they are more critical. Those things lead me to think that he won't turn into a red zone monster, but in spite of that I think he will, never-the-less, probably play a solid role in red zone scoring. If he only had the weird ability of Celek to just get lost from the defenders in the end zone, then he'd be a deadly threat.

But... Shanahan is a genius at scheming players open depending on what's happening with the defense so it wouldn't surprise me if he finds a way to scheme Kittle open in the red zone. Right now I don't expect Kittle to be a big red zone threat but he is a pretty talented TE (tough, athletic and smart) so it wouldn't completely surprise me if he turns out to be one.

If you're talking about this play, I think you're mistaken. Kittle showed, not only, great athleticism to high point the ball, but also great ability to be an end-zone target in a broken down play. He and Jimmy just didn't have enough real estate. This play, btw, was my favorite throw Jimmy made despite being incomplete. 36 yard strike off his back foot to the back of the end-zone where only his guy could make a play? Get outta here...

No, the play I am thinking of was a pass to Kittle in the middle of the end zone that grazed off the top of his fingers after it went just over the fingertips of a couple of defenders. I completely agree that Kittle is very good athlete and had a good rookie season and will probably be noticeably better this year. We'll see if he becomes a hot red zone threat - hopefully he will.

The team will definitely get better the second year under Shanalynch and so will Kittle. Especially after getting the right scheme players.

Only way I go for Gronk, is if we can package Ward with a pick for Gronk. Gronk has a base salary of 8 million this year, and 9 million next year. This year by trading Ward would basically be a wash compared to what we already expect to be paying, and next years salary isn't too much. Doubtful the Patriots trade him, but what round of a pick would we have to throw in with Ward to get them to bite if they WANTED to move on from Gronk?
Yes I know we don't need to trade Ward to get a deal done, but New England has lost some players in the secondary, and Ward would be able to help them out there, and it would allow us to look for replacements for Ward in the draft and FA.

Originally posted by Bobdawg78:
Only way I go for Gronk, is if we can package Ward with a pick for Gronk. Gronk has a base salary of 8 million this year, and 9 million next year. This year by trading Ward would basically be a wash compared to what we already expect to be paying, and next years salary isn't too much. Doubtful the Patriots trade him, but what round of a pick would we have to throw in with Ward to get them to bite if they WANTED to move on from Gronk?
Yes I know we don't need to trade Ward to get a deal done, but New England has lost some players in the secondary, and Ward would be able to help them out there, and it would allow us to look for replacements for Ward in the draft and FA.

Gronk on the trade block is hilarious. LOL Did you read where the speculation came from?

"A Bill Belichick-friendly source agreed with my thinking that once a player makes Belichick start to contemplate life without him, Belichick starts to warm to being without that player. 'He imagines you gone,' [the source] said. The longer Gronkowski goes without saying he's all in, the chances of him being traded increases, the source said."

That's all reporters do now a days, give their opinion and title the article like it's a fact. Just click bait.

Originally posted by thl408:
breaking ankles

He does have some scoot in him after the catch. No denying that. Makes people bounce off of him as well once he goes north south.

Originally posted by qnnhan7:

I think Shanahan wil rock with Kittle and Celek going into 2018. People want someone dominant at TE, but it's not necessary. Between Kittle and Celek, they are very effective. Although if they upgrade it would be from Celek. They have Kittle who is fast and athletic together with Celek a more traditional role at TE. They are a good combo

I like Celek but I'm looking forward to seeing Hikutini show up in preseason and take some of his snaps.

He struggled with drops but you can tell this dude's a playmaker.

Originally posted by Scottie15:

He struggled with drops but you can tell this dude's a playmaker.

Yep and those can easily be worked on.

Because this is such a slack time of the year for football, I've been rewatching games from last year - well the 6 wins. Anyway, I finally got to the Jags game and during the game the announcers mentioned that Kittle had had the most receptions of any 9ers ball catchers in the red zone. So... I think earlier in this thread I was too skeptical of how much of a role Kittle may play in the red zone this year. A rookie TE with the most red zone receptions on the team - that's pretty impressive.

Originally posted by 49erphan:

Because this is such a slack time of the year for football, I've been rewatching games from last year - well the 6 wins. Anyway, I finally got to the Jags game and during the game the announcers mentioned that Kittle had had the most receptions of any 9ers ball catchers in the red zone. So... I think earlier in this thread I was too skeptical of how much of a role Kittle may play in the red zone this year. A rookie TE with the most red zone receptions on the team - that's pretty impressive.

Love,love,love me some Kittles. Can't wait to see the year twos of the rookies from last year.

I really f*king like Kittle

taste the rainbow.

I really like Kittle TE. We should draft Mike Gesick TE by 2nd round. He is amazing running and awesome with vertical Jump 40 to 41. He can catch the ball by touch down on end zone!

He looks like one of the long lost Baldwin brothers