George Kittle

George Kittle
refer to caption
Kittle with the 49ers in 2017
No. 85 – San Francisco 49ers
Position: Tight end
Personal information
Born: (1993-10-09) October 9, 1993
Madison, Wisconsin
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight: 247 lb (112 kg)
Career information
High school: Norman (Norman, Oklahoma)
College: Iowa
NFL Draft: 2017 / Round: 5 / Pick: 146
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 5, 2018
Receptions: 66
Receiving yards: 914
Receiving touchdowns: 3
Player stats at NFL.com

George Kittle (born October 9, 1993) is an American football tight end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes.

Early years

Kittle attended Iowa City West High School in Iowa City, Iowa, Cedar Falls High School in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma.[1][2] He committed to the University of Iowa to play college football.[3] His father, Bruce Kittle, also played at Iowa and is a former college football coach.[4]

College career

Kittle played at Iowa from 2013 to 2016 under head coach Kirk Ferentz.[1][5][6] During his collegiate career, Kittle had 48 receptions for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns.[7]

College statistics

Receiving
YearTeamGPRecYardsTDs
2013Iowa351080
2014Iowa31250
2015Iowa10202906
2016Iowa9223144
College Totals224873710

Professional career

As top tight end prospect, Kittle was one of 19 collegiate tight ends to receive an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. He completed the majority of drills, but opted to skip the short shuttle and three-cone drill. Kittle's overall performance was well perceived, as he finished third among tight ends in the broad jump, fifth in the 40-yard dash, and finished sixth among his position group in the vertical jump.[8] On March 27, 2017, Kittle participated at Iowa's Pro Day, along with C. J. Beathard, Desmond King, Jaleel Johnson, Greg Mabin, Riley McCarron, and four other prospects. He completed his combine drills, finishing the short shuttle (4.55s), three-cone drill, and also ran positional drills. Scouts and team representatives from all 32 NFL teams attended, including Cincinnati Bengals' tight end's coach Jonathan Hayes.[9] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Kittle was projected to be a third or fourth round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the fifth best tight end prospect in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock, sixth best by NFL analyst Gil Brandt, and was ranked the eighth best tight end by NFLDraftScout.com.[10][11][12]

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert jump Broad BP
6 ft 4 in
(1.93 m)		 247 lb
(112 kg)		 33 1⁄8 in
(0.84 m)		 9 1⁄4 in
(0.23 m)		 4.52 s 1.59 s 2.65 s 4.55 s 7.00 s 35 in
(0.89 m)		 11 ft 0 in
(3.35 m)		 18 reps
All values from NFL Combine[13][10]

The San Francisco 49ers selected Kittle in the fifth round (146th overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.[14] He was reunited with Iowa teammate C. J. Beathard, who the San Francisco 49ers drafted in the third round (104th overall).[15]

On May 4, 2017, the San Francisco 49ers signed Kittle to a four-year, $2.69 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $298,287.[16]

Throughout training camp, he competed against Garrett Celek, Vance McDonald, Logan Paulsen, Blake Bell, and Cole Hikutini for the job as the starting tight end. Head coach Kyle Shanahan named Kittle the starting tight end to start the regular season.[17]

He earned his first career start and his regular season debut in the San Francisco 49ers' season-opener against the Carolina Panthers and caught five passes for 27-yards in their 23–3 loss.[18] He caught his first career reception on a 13-yard pass from Brian Hoyer on the first drive and was tackled by Panthers' safety Mike Adams.[19] On October 8, 2017, Kittle made 7 receptions for 83-yards and caught his first career touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Brian Hoyer during a 26-23 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts.[20] During a Week 9 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, Kittle caught 3 passes for 27-yards, before leaving the 20-10 loss with a leg injury.[21] He was inactive due to the injury and missed the following game against the Giants.[22] Overall, he finished his rookie season with 43 receptions for 515 yards and two touchdowns.[23]

In the 2018 season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, Kittle had five receptions for 90 yards in the loss.[24] In Week 4, against the Los Angeles Chargers, Kittle recorded an 82-yard touchdown reception as part of a 125-yard performance in the loss.[25]

NFL statistics

Regular season

NFL career statistics
Year Team Games Receiving Rushing Fumbles
GGSRecYdsAvgLngTDAttYdsAvgLngTDFumLost
2017SF 1574351512442000.00000
Career15743515124420000000
Source:[26]

References

  1. 1 2 Brown, Rick (September 30, 2015). "George Kittle returns to his roots at Wisconsin". Hawk Central. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  2. ↑ Przybylo, Robert (June 24, 2011). "Super 30: Norman's George Kittle no longer new kid on the block". NewsOK.com. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  3. ↑ Aber, Ryan (February 1, 2012). "Iowa football recruiting: Norman's George Kittle signs with Iowa". NewsOK.com. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  4. ↑ "George Kittle returns to his roots at Wisconsin". Hawk Central. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  5. ↑ Morehouse, Marc (November 11, 2016). "'Believe' always has carried Iowa's George Kittle". The Gazette. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  6. ↑ Leistikow, Chad (August 13, 2015). "Athletic 'freak' George Kittle gives Hawkeyes exciting TE option". Hawk Central. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  7. ↑ "George Kittle Career Game Log". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  8. ↑ Lyles Jr., Harry (March 5, 2016). "NFL Combine Results". SBNation.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  9. ↑ Gil Brandt (March 27, 2017). "Pro day results: Iowa, Houston, Villanova, WKU, Texas Southern". NFL.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  10. 1 2 "George Kittle, DS #8 TE, Iowa". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  11. ↑ Mayock, Mike (April 27, 2017). "Mike Mayock's 2017 NFL Draft position rankings 4.0". NFL.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  12. ↑ Brandt, Gil (April 17, 2017). "Hot 150: Gil Brandt's top prospects for 2017 NFL Draft (101-150)". NFL.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Combine Player Profiles – George Kittle". National Football League. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
  14. ↑ Fann, Joe (April 29, 2017). "San Francisco 49ers Draft Iowa TE George Kittle". 49ers.com. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  15. ↑ "2017 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  16. ↑ "Spotrac.com: George Kittle contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Ourlads.com: San Francisco 49ers' depth chart: 10/01/2017". Ourlads.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  18. ↑ "Carolina Panthers at San Francisco 49ers - September 10th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  19. ↑ "NFL Game Center: Week 1-2017: Carolina Panthers @ San Francisco 49ers". NFL.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  20. ↑ "San Francisco 49ers at Indianapolis Colts - October 8th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2017-11-05.
  21. ↑ "49ers' George Kittle: Hurts leg Sunday". CBSSports. November 5, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  22. ↑ "NFL Player stats: George Kittle (2017)". NFL.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  23. ↑ "George Kittle 2017 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  24. ↑ "49ers' George Kittle flashes intensity, skills in season opener". SFChronicle.com. 2018-09-14. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  25. ↑ "49ers connect on 82-yard touchdown pass from Beathard to Kittle". 247 Sports. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  26. ↑ "George Kittle". NFL.com. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
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