It looked like the 49ers were set at tight end following George Kittle’s record-setting second season. Depth at that position will be important though, and it could become a peripheral need the 49ers choose to address in this year’s draft. They hosted a tight end prospect from Texas A&M, Jace Sternberger, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Sternberger has become a popular prospect. He has visits or workouts with 14 teams.
The 6-4, 251-pound tight end has about the same measurables as George Kittle, and had a decent showing at the NFL combine. A tumultuous college career probably kept Sternberger from getting more pre-draft hype.
He spent two years at Kansas where he redshirted his first year, then caught one ball for five yards in his second year. He transferred after the 2016 season, then sat out 2017 before putting up a terrific 2018 season. As a redshirt junior, Sternberger caught 48 balls for 832 yards and 10 touchdowns. That’s the same amount of catches and touchdowns, and 95 more yards than Kittle had in four years at Iowa.
His tape shows more athleticism than his raw combine numbers, and he did a lot of work blocking on the line of scrimmage. The Aggies weren’t afraid to look Sternberger’s way in the red zone, and he showed good hands on contested catches. He also runs sort of like Kittle after the catch, just with less pure athleticism.
The 49ers could potentially use a player like Sternberger in almost the way they use Kyle Juszczyk. They could line him up in the backfield or split him out wide or in the slot.
It may take Sternberger a year or two to fully adapt to the NFL, especially considering his lack of college experience, but adding another versatile athlete to Kyle Shanahan’s offense certainly isn’t a bad idea. If the 49ers look for a tight end late on Day 2 or early on Day 3, Sternberger is the type of player they’d want.
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