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San Francisco has a position battle at tight end, and rookie fifth-rounder George Kittle appears to be the favorite for a job.
(Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
(Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
- Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee speculates that 49ers rookie tight end George Kittle is the mostly likely tight end to make the final roster. Kittle is currently one of six tight ends on the depth chart, and the team will probably keep three or four tight ends on the final roster.
- Kittle was drafted in the fifth round this year, and has the combination of receiving and blocking skills to fit new coach Mike Shanahan’s offense. At Iowa last season, Kittle’s 1.42 yards per route run ranked 26th out of 70 tight ends that ran at least 100 routes. He dropped three of 25 catchable passes, and his 12 percent drop rate ranked 55th out of 77 tight ends with at least 25 targets.
- Kittle was very effective when asked to pass-block last year, only allowing one QB pressure and no sacks or hits in 47 pass-block snaps. His PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating of 98.4 was 19th out of 116 tight ends with a minimum of 45 pass-block snaps.
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