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How 49ers Tight End George Kittle's Game Has Evolved with Age

This is the paradox of Kittle.

Grant Cohn

Oct 10, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) spikes the ball after scoring a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
Oct 10, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) spikes the ball after scoring a touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
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In certain ways, George Kittle is slowing down. And in certain ways, he's having the best season of his career.

This is the paradox of Kittle.

He just turned 31 a few days ago. When Rob Gronkowski was 31, he was a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. He retired at 32. And like Kittle, Gronkowski was an extremely physical player. A great blocker and an incredible runner after the catch. He broke tackles all the time, and his playing style shortened his career.

Kittle is trying to extend his career. Why shouldn't he play until he's 35? Travis Kelce just turned 35 and he's still making a ton of money. Kittle could make even more if he stays healthy. But he needs to adjust his game.

He no longer breaks lots of tackles. In fact, he has broken only one so far this season. When he catches the ball, he goes down fairly quickly. So he's not the YAC threat he was when he was younger, which is to be expected. Kelce isn't much of a YAC guy anymore either.

To compensate, Kittle has become the 49ers' go-to guy in the red zone. He currently has a league-leading 5 touchdown catches, which is a big uptick for him. He had six touchdown catches in all of last season.

Suddenly, Kittle has become an expert at getting open in tight spaces and making catches with defenders hanging all over him. And it looks like he could continue to play this way for years to come if he stays healthy.

Don't be surprised if Kittle makes it into the Hall of Fame one day.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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