The 49ers might’ve come away with the steal of the 2017 NFL draft when they scooped up tight end George Kittle in the fifth round.
Kittle’s slide down the draft all the way to the No. 146 overall pick has led to some re-evaluation from draft analysts on how they scout players. It’s easy when looking at his production with the Hawkeyes to understand how he became the eighth tight end off the board that year.
He played 48 games in four years with Iowa. In those 48 games he managed 48 receptions, 737 yards and 10 touchdowns. Those aren’t terrible numbers, but they’re not typical of an elite tight end.
OJ Howard, the former Alabama tight end selected by the Buccaneers No. 19 overall, for example had 114 catches for 1,726 yards and seven touchdowns in 46 college contests.
Kittle had a good showing at the combine, but even the 49ers didn’t notice him until they began scouting CJ Beathard. His blocking and athleticism stood out enough that they swooped in and snagged him in the first round.
His transition to the NFL couldn’t have been easier, and he’s already blown away his college production to the point that it’s actually comical.
Through 31 games in two professional seasons, Kittle has 131 catches for 1,892 yards and seven touchdowns.
He matched his college receptions total in his first 16 NFL games. He passed his college yardage total in his 19th game.
During his record-setting 2018 season, Kittle eclipsed all of his reception and yardage numbers in just 10 games. He had 50 receptions, 775 yards three touchdowns in those first 10 contests.
This is a good lesson to not lean too heavily on production when looking at draft prospects. There are other factors like usage and offensive scheme that go into a player’s productivity – it isn’t just their skill. Plenty of NFL flameouts boasted big numbers in the college ranks. Kittle, luckily for San Francisco, has done the opposite.
In three years Kittle has gone from peripheral option in college, to the No. 1 option in one of the NFL’s most creative offenses. Finding players who blow their college stats out of the water so quickly is hard, but tracking down more mid-round superstars who go overlooked because of lackluster college numbers will be key to the 49ers accelerating their turnaround.
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