5 | TE George Kittle
It’s a little surprising Kittle wasn’t actually higher on this list given that he was PFF’s best player in the league for the 2019 season. Kittle is undoubtedly the 49ers’ best offensive weapon in the passing game, and his blocking prowess unlocks a lot of the deception Shanahan’s offense thrives on. What he did in his third year was the best tight end season of the last 10 years:
Over the past decade, five of the top seven single-season PFF grades at tight end belong to Rob Gronkowski, but the grade George Kittle racked up last season tops any of them. … Last season was his first truly dominant year, but it was so good that it’s tough not to rank him this highly based on what the future could hold.
Opposing defenses can’t love the idea of an even better version of Kittle, but that’s the trajectory he’s put himself on. His after-the-catch ability has allowed him to post more receiving yards through three years than any tight end in history, and he was PFF’s highest-graded player last season despite missing two games and playing through knee and ankle injuries. Perhaps Kittle peaked early and will start to plateau, but reaching the top-five on this list just three years in is a good sign that Kittle has plenty of room to build on a stellar first three seasons.