Is George Kittle Beginning to Decline?

It's possible Kittle still hasn't regained his quickness and explosion since returning from a groin injury. But Kittle disagrees.

WEST VIRGINIA -- Something's not right with George Kittle.

Through three games this season, Kittle has just 11 catches, 99 receiving yards and zero touchdowns. He has become the most expensive decoy in the NFL.

This past Sunday against the Panthers, the 49ers tried to get Kittle involved early in the game. Jimmy Garoppolo threw Kittle four passes in the first quarter, and Kittle caught all four. But on the fourth catch, Kittle tried to burst upfield, make defenders miss and gain big yards after the catch like he has done for years. Instead, he had no burst, so he got swarmed, and he fumbled, and the Panthers recovered. Then he was a non-factor the rest of the game -- one catch, five yards, one false start.

Is this the real Kittle, or is this an impostor?

Kittle used to be one of the most dangerous players in the NFL with the ball in his hands. He had more quickness and explosion than any other tight end. That's why Kittle averaged a whopping 9.9 yards per reception after the catch in 2018, his breakout season.

This season, he's averaging just 3.3 yards per reception after the catch -- a career low. Seven players on the 49ers offense currently are averaging more yards after the catch than Kittle. This is new.

It's possible Kittle still hasn't regained his quickness and explosion since returning from a groin injury. But Kittle disagrees.

“I’ll tell you, these last 10 days, I’ve definitely felt like myself,” Kittle said. "Battling back from a little groin stuff, that’s never really fun, and just got to get back into that. But I definitely, this last week, I felt at my best playing. Nothing new came up from that, so I get to continue that streak and just keep going.”

So the groin injury is not the reason for Kittle's slump. And if you go back to last season, you'll see Kittle's slump started late in 2021.

From Weeks 12 to 14 when the 49ers were desperately fighting to get into the playoffs, the offense leaned heavily on Kittle, as he caught 28 passes, gained 425 yards and scored three touchdowns in that time.

Since then, Kittle's production has fallen off a cliff. In his past nine games dating back to last season, he's averaging just 3.4 yards per reception after the catch.

It's fair to wonder if the 49ers overused Kittle the past few years. It's fair to wonder how much he has left in the tank. Right now, it doesn't look like much.