George Kittle DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

The San Francisco 49ers restructured the contract of tight end George Kittle on Friday to create close to $10 million in 2024 salary cap space. It's likely that the 49ers converted Kittle's base salary this year into bonus money to create the cap space. The 30-year-old former fifth-round pick by the team in 2017 out of Iowa has made the Pro Bowl five times in his first seven seasons and has been a big reason for the 49ers' success in recent year. In 16 regular-season games, Kittle caught 65 of his 90 targets for a league-high 1,020 receiving yards among tight ends and six touchdowns. He only caught two passes for four yards in the Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, but Kittle continues to be one of the top fantasy tight ends in the game.

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle disappointed fantasy gamers in the team's 25-22 Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas on Sunday. Chiefs' defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and his squad silenced Kittle, limiting him to just two catches on three targets for four yards receiving. Though Kittle finished as the fifth-most productive tight end in half-PPR scoring this year, nights like this are to be expected. In five separate games this year, he failed to reach five points. The Super Bowl loss ends Kittle's season with a particularly painful whimper though, as he finished with fewer than 10 yards receiving for just the third time this season. Of course, you can't have a top-5 finish without great games as well, so he'll likely be a mid-level TE1 in fantasy drafts this fall as he tries to get to the Super Bowl for a third time.

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (toe) is off the injury report and should have ample opportunities to make his mark in Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas on Sunday. While Kittle only had three targets in the NFC Championship Game against Detroit, he was more involved the week prior versus Green Bay, drawing seven targets. During the regular season, while Kittle has had his share of week-winning games, Travis Kelce has been the more steady option, which led to Kelce's 11.5 Half-PPR points per game to Kittle's 10.7. Kittle is a fine option for fantasy gamers, but DFS players willing to spend for the top tight end will go with Kelce, who has been on fire as the focal point of KC's playoff passing attack. During the regular season, the Chiefs finished as the eighth toughest defense in half-PPR formats to tight ends. In the playoffs, they've continued their suppression by allowing an average of 4.3 receptions, 30.7 yards, and no touchdowns per game to the position. While Kittle may not have the safe floor of Kelce, fantasy gamers could do worse than save a few DFS dollars and hope Kittle has one of his signature YAC-monster games up his sleeve in Vegas.

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (toe) was limited in practice again on Thursday, but head coach Kyle Shanahan reported that Kittle will be good to go for Sunday in Super Bowl LVIII to face the Kansas City Chiefs. The 30-year-old suffered a minor toe injury in the NFC Championship win over the Detroit Lions and didn't practice at all last week. However, the Niners were just giving their Pro Bowl tight end some extra rest and he's going to be just fine to play in the Super Bowl this Sunday. He shouldn't have any limitations against a strong Chiefs defense, and fantasy managers are hoping he's more involved in the passing attack after going quiet for his standards in the last contest. Kittle could easily bounce back against KC after leading all tight ends in receiving yards in the regular season.

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (toe) was limited in the team's practice on Wednesday after not practicing at all last week. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said he believes Kittle will be a full-go for Thursday's practice. The 30-year-old tight end suffered a minor toe injury in the NFC Championship win over the Detroit Lions and was considered day-to-day at the start of last week. He shouldn't be in danger at all of not being able to play in the Super Bowl this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. Kittle led all tight ends with just over 1,000 receiving yards during the regular season and could play a key role as the Niners look to overcome a strong Chiefs defense in Super Bowl LVIII. KC's defense was vulnerable to the position to close out the regular season, so Kittle could find some success for DFS gamers.