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With Gronkowski retired, where does Kittle rank among top tight ends?

By

Brad Almquist

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© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL is a never-ending debate circle. So, when a player of Rob Gronkowski’s future Hall-of-Fame status retires, what’s more appropriate than to re-rank the top tight ends in the NFL?

In one year, George Kittle has not only entered the discussion of the ‘best tight end in football,’ but he could arguably headline it.

Kittle posted solid totals as a rookie in 2017, compiling 43 catches for 515 yards, which are actually the most ever for a rookie tight end drafted in the fifth round or later. One season later, he orchestrated the best season for any tight end in NFL history. His 1,377 yards are the most at the position in a single season. His 870 yards after the catch led all NFL players in 2018. He led the next-closest 49ers receiver, Kendrick Bourne, by 890 yards.

Those numbers give Kittle a serious case to lead the top-tight-end-in-football debate. But is one season enough?

John Lynch, appearing on KNBR last week, initially said yes, then retracted a bit.

“‘No,’ for now,” Lynch said. “But I certainly believe he has that in him. If he puts up another season like last year, I think we can start talking about titles like that.”

By a similar line of thinking, here is our ranking of the top-five current tight ends in the NFL.

  1. Travis Kelce
  2. George Kittle
  3. Zach Ertz
  4. Eric Ebron
  5. O.J. Howard

Kittle was named a second-team All-Pro behind Travis Kelce, which reinforces the above list.

Kelce has simply been too good, and too consistent, throughout recent years. He is the only tight end in NFL history with three straight seasons of 1,000-plus yards. He actually broke the single-season tight end yardage record, previously held by Gronkowski, for about 30 minutes, until Kittle grabbed the record with a 43-yard touchdown catch in the final quarter of the 49ers’ season.

According to Pro Football Focus, Kelce ranked better than Kittle in pass-blocking but not run-blocking. And that’s the primary reason why Kittle leapfrogs Philadelphia’s Zach Ertz, who quietly posted a career-high 1,163 receiving yards in 2018. Ertz is effectively a receiver in Philadelphia’s offense. He earned a 49.6 run-blocking grade on Pro Football Focus, as opposed to Kittle’s 73.3 mark, which ranked sixth out of all starting tight ends.

It seemed every week, Kittle pancaked an opposing linemen to the turf. He was one reason why the 49ers’ running attack improved in 2018, with blocks like those in the below thread.

One of the most impressive parts of Kittle’s record-breaking season is that he maintained a stellar level of production with three different quarterbacks, including Jimmy Garoppolo, C.J. Beathard, and Nick Mullens. You could argue Shanahan frequently schemed Kittle open, which helps explain that 63 percent of his yards came after the catch. But that shouldn’t knock Kittle, whose speed created those big plays. He made his share of outstanding individual catches.

Kittle is as complete a tight end as there is in the NFL. He’s also durable — he’s missed one NFL game in two years despite battling various injuries as a rookie.

The question is whether Kittle will sustain his production like Kelce. It may be unrealistic to expect the 49ers tight end to break his own record again, but it’s fair to expect him to continually post 1,000-yard seasons, even with a better supporting cast likely surrounding him in 2019.

Shanahan will continue to push the 49ers’ star.

“Coach Shanahan said that out of all the tight ends he’s ever had, I do a lot of things really, really well,” Kittle told Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle in February. “But I’m still third (among that group) in route running. So, that’s one of the challenges he gave to me. And that’s certainly one thing I’ll focus on this offseason.”

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