George Kittle

Kittle has finished sixth or better in fantasy PPG each of the past seven years. That includes a first-place finish in 2024 (15.8 PPG), which was fueled by an incredible 13 weeks in the top 12 among TEs in 14 full games. Kittle has paced the position in yards per reception, yards per target and yards per route run each of the past two seasons and has finished exactly second in touchdowns three years in a row. With Deebo Samuel Sr. traded and Brandon Aiyuk (knee) expected to miss significant game action, Kittle has a case to be the top tight end off the board on draft day entering his ninth NFL season.

Kittle has ranked in the top six in fantasy points per game in each of the last seven seasons
His 94.3 receiving grade over the past seven years is the best among all tight ends, barely beating out Travis Kelce, although Kelce has run nearly 2000 more routes. His run block grade of 84.5 is also the best for tight ends during that time.
Brock Purdy is a big part of Kittle’s recent improvements. Before, Jimmy Garoppolo was his quarterback, leading to relatively few deep and intermediate targets. From 2019-2022, he was held to 300-500 receiving yards in those situations. With Purdy, he’s gained over 600 receiving yards from deep and intermediate targets each of the last two seasons.