George Kittle had a breakout year last season. In fact, he broke the record for most receiving yards by a tight end in a season with 1,377. Add to that his 88 receptions and five touchdowns and you have the number two tight end in fantasy football for 2018. Kittle is sure to be a hot commodity during fantasy drafts this year. He’s the most reliable pass-catcher on the San Francisco 49ers and he’ll have Jimmy Garoppolo back.
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George Kittle 2019 Fantasy Preview
2018 Recap
Last year, Kittle had a season that most tight ends would envy. In just his second year in the league, he broke the record for receiving yards for a tight end. With 1,377 yards, he had the eighth-most receiving yards in the league in 2018. It was quite impressive, especially considering the situation. When Garoppolo left due to injury, he caught passes from two different quarterbacks. C.J. Beathard and Nick Mullens were OK as backups, but Kittle’s production with little consistency at quarterback is a testament to his skill.
Kittle had an average of 15.6 yards per catch which was good for third out of the top ten receivers in 2018. The one thing that would have pushed him closer to the number one fantasy tight end was his number of touchdowns. He finished the season with five scores. Travis Kelce was the number one fantasy tight end and had double that amount with 10 scores.
2019 Outlook
Kittle is sure to be a top target for many fantasy owners in drafts this year. He seemingly came out of nowhere last year and is still young at just 25 years old. The 6’4″, 250 pound tight end could be the top receiver for the 49ers once again in 2019. The veteran receiver will be Jordan Matthews, who just joined the team through free agency. He’s talented but hasn’t reached 1,000 receiving yards yet in his five years in the league. The team also added rookies in Deebo Samuel and Jalen Hurd. With Kittle’s 2018 output and who the team added, he’s likely to be the leading receiver a second year.
Barring any potential injuries, Kittle is in line for another stellar season in 2019. He’s definitely not resting on his laurels either. In this tweet, he benches 365 pounds for multiple reps. It’s obvious that the young tight end isn’t taking last season for granted. The best thing Kittle can do for his fantasy value in 2019 is to increase his touchdowns. That shouldn’t be a hard feat with Garoppolo back under center. With his big frame and catch rate (64.7 percent), Kittle could be a big red zone target this year. As with any position, the tight end can be hard to predict. But Kittle could dethrone Kelce as the number one fantasy tight end this season.
George Kittle Average Draft Position
According to Fantasy Football Calculator, Kittle is currently projected to be a late third-round pick. He lands after Kelce and Zach Ertz. It’s not surprising that Kelce and Ertz are above Kittle in ADP. They have more experience in the league. But if you get to the third round and already have a running back and wide receiver, Kittle would be a great pick. To take care of tight end in the third round would open up a lot of scenarios for the rest of your draft.
Kittle is an especially good pick when considering PPR formats. He had 88 receptions in 2018. When you average those receptions across 16 games, that would be 5.5 points per game in standard PPR formats, just considering receptions. Many tight ends have a hard time reaching that many fantasy points in a game, all scoring factors included. If you’re looking to get one of the “elite” tight ends early in the draft, Kittle would be a good choice anywhere from the middle of the third round on.
