George Kittle's Production has Plummeted

They needed him to step up last week.

Once upon a time, George Kittle was the go-to guy in the 49ers passing game. Now, most weeks he's an afterthought.

Last week, he got two targets, caught one pass and gained one yard. That was his day. It was somewhat typical for him. Just a few weeks ago against the Cardinals, Kittle had one target, caught one pass and gained nine yards. Keep in mind, the 49ers pay him $15 million per season.

What's going on with Kittle?

They needed him to step up last week. They lost both Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel against the Browns, and were left with Jordan Mason, Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Ray Ray McCloud and Kittle. You would expect the 49ers' offensive focus to turn to Kittle, considering how dominant he has been in his career. But it didn't.

Kittle started out hot this season -- he had 16 catches in the first three games. Since then, he's had five catches in the past three games. Either he's not getting open, or Kyle Shanahan simply doesn't call his number anymore.

You'd think Shanahan would have 50 plays in his play sheet that feature Kittle as the primary receiver. You'd love to know how many of those plays Shanahan called on Sunday. Did he call them and Kittle fail to get open, or did Shanahan simply feature other players?

Whatever the case, the 49ers pay Kittle too much money not to give him the ball. They need him to step up right now while McCaffrey and Samuel are less than 100 percent healthy.