Following their NFC Divisional Round win over the Minnesota Vikings this past weekend, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan shared a close look into his relationship with star tight end George Kittle.
The two-time Pro-Bowler, in his third season in the NFL and with San Francisco, has reportedly never in his professional tenure asked his head coach to run plays designed to throw the ball Kittle's way. Selected in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Iowa, Kittle has seen his star rise in three short years but instead has stayed humble while the Niners have gradually gotten better every year, leading to an NFC Championship Game berth to be played next weekend against the Green Bay Packers.
According to Niners Nation on Twitter, Kittle asks Shanahan, though, what “type of run play” they need the tight end to help block and hit someone.
Speaking of, Shanahan said Kittle has never once in three years came up to him during a game and asked for the ball to be thrown to him, but Kittle comes up to Shanahan "about every seven plays" about what type of run play the 49ers need to do, and who Kittle needs to hit.
— Niners Nation (@NinersNation) January 13, 2020
Kittle is a multi-faceted and talented athlete at tight end, satisfied with both blocking for his offense and pass-catching. In the 2019 regular season he recorded 85 receptions for over 1,000 receiving yards and scored five touchdowns.
During Saturday's divisional victory over the Vikings at home, Kittle only tallied 16 receiving yards on three catches. Either way—whether he's having huge games or just blocking for the running back corps—Kittle has been a big difference-maker for Shanahan and his club.
Kittle is just one face of the well-rounded 49ers group, including their fearsome defense led by rookie defensive end Nick Bosa on the line and veteran cornerback Richard Sherman, the latter of whom re-asserted his dominance in the postseason with an interception on Saturday off of Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.
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