George Kittle has been one of the San Francisco 49ers' key players for years now. The 29-year-old veteran is one of the NFL's best tight ends and has been able to get after it this offseason without the injury concerns that have followed him over the past few seasons.

This time around, Kittle claims he entered the offseason healthy, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN. He has been able to focus on increasing his catch radius and improving his speed getting out of routes. Not having to deal with nagging injuries puts the 49ers star in an enlightened mood.

“It's just allowed me to work the way that I wanted to work earlier in the offseason,” Kittle said, via ESPN. “I was actually just able to get a good foundation in…Being able to get out on the field, run good routes, catch the ball and not to miss stuff, just it's way more fun to be on the football field than on the side watching.”

The 49ers have numerous high-level weapons in their offense — it's what makes them one of the Super Bowl favorites — but Kittle's overall production has dipped over the years. He did have 11 touchdowns last season, accounting for over a third of his total career scores, but his receptions per game were the lowest since his rookie year.

While George Kittle may not surpass 1,000 yards again with Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk taking up touches, the 49ers' star tight end could challenge for the title of the best tight end in the sport again by increasing his efficiency. Getting his catch percentage back above 75 percent would be a strong start.

The 49ers love having Kittle because he is a great blocker and catcher, meaning that defenses are kept even more honest. But tight ends coach Brian Fleury is in charge of incorporating rookies Cameron Latu and Brayden Willis into the offense. Giving Kittle more breaks will help manage his load but deprive a key wrinkle out of San Francisco's offense.

“It's the luxury that we have that with George on the field,” Fleury said, via ESPN. “We're not predictable in terms of how we're using the tight end. A lot of other teams don't have that luxury. And it's something that if we don't have George on the field, we do have to be aware of is, ‘Are we creating tendencies with one tight end versus another?’ And so it's up to us to offset those things. It's challenging and it's something that we're aware of.”