George Kittle with the San Francisco 49ers, 2019
With the San Francisco 49ers, 2019. Photo: All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tight end, Iowa, 2013–⁠16

George Kittle

Number
No. 46
Height
6′4″
Hometown
Norman, OK
Born
Oct 9, 1993, in Madison, Wisconsin

Wikipedia readers: about 53,306 a month over the past year

George Kittle played tight end at Iowa (2013–⁠16). The San Francisco 49ers took Kittle in round 5, No. 146 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft.

At a glance

Best season
314
Receiving yards, 2016 (Iowa, 8–⁠5)
Drafted
No. 146
Round 5, 2017 NFL Draft (San Francisco 49ers)

Career highs

110receiving yards, career highvs. North Dakota State, 20162receiving touchdowns, career highvs. Nebraska, 2016

Receiving

Receiving yards, season by season, with his team’s record
SeasonTeamRecYdsAvgTDLong
2013Iowa510821.6047
2014Iowa12525.0025
2015Iowa2029014.5643
2016Iowa2231414.3451
Career4873715.41051

Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.

On the roster

SeasonTeamNo.PosHt
2013Iowa46TE
2014Iowa46TE
2015Iowa46TE
2016Iowa46TE6′4″

As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.

Per play

SeasonTeamPlaysEPA/playPctileMedianTotalUsage
2013Iowa51.41––7.1–
2014Iowa11.10––1.1–
2015Iowa231.28––29.44%
2016Iowa330.7378th (n=489)0.5224.26%

Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.

Game by game

2016 Iowa 9 games, 22 catches, 314 yards, 4 TD
DateOpponentResultRecYdsTDLong
Sep 10vs.Iowa StateW 42–⁠3326110
Sep 17vs.North Dakota StateL 21–⁠235110051
Sep 24atRutgersW 14–⁠7256136
Oct 1vs.NorthwesternL 31–⁠38118018
Oct 8atMinnesotaW 14–⁠7439015
Oct 15atPurdueW 49–⁠35231022
Nov 5atPenn StateL 14–⁠412906
Nov 25vs.NebraskaW 40–⁠102726
Jan 2 ✦vs.FloridaL 3–⁠30118018
2015 Iowa 10 games, 20 catches, 290 yards, 6 TD
DateOpponentResultRecYdsTDLong
Sep 19vs.PittsburghW 27–⁠242704
Sep 26vs.North TexasW 62–⁠16262143
Oct 3atWisconsinW 10–⁠61111
Oct 10vs.IllinoisW 29–⁠20121121
Oct 31vs.MarylandW 31–⁠15126026
Nov 7atIndianaW 35–⁠27219110
Nov 14vs.MinnesotaW 40–⁠35544024
Nov 21vs.PurdueW 40–⁠20249135
Nov 27atNebraskaW 28–⁠20235125
Dec 5vs.Michigan StateL 13–⁠16226020
2014 Iowa 2 games, 1 catch, 25 yards
DateOpponentResultRecYdsTDLong
Sep 13vs.Iowa StateL 17–⁠20––––
Oct 18atMarylandL 31–⁠38125025
2013 Iowa 3 games, 5 catches, 108 yards
DateOpponentResultRecYdsTDLong
Sep 7vs.Missouri StateW 28–⁠14147047
Oct 19atOhio StateL 24–⁠34124024
Nov 9atPurdueW 38–⁠14337019

Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.

Before the draft

DrillCombine 2017Combine or pro day 2017
Height6′3¾″
Weight247 lb
Arm length33⅛″
Hand size9¼″
Wingspan78¾″W
40-yard dash4.52 s
10-yard split1.51 s
Vertical jump35″
Broad jump11′0″
Bench press18 reps
3-cone drill7.00 s
20-yard shuttle4.59 s

Combine or pro day: the source doesn’t say which. Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

In the NFL

10 seasons, 129 games with a stat; latest team: San Francisco 49ers.

Pro Bowls: 7 (2018–⁠19, 2021–⁠25) · First-team All-Pro (AP): 2 (2019, 2023) · Second-team All-Pro (AP): 3 (2018, 2022, 2024)

All-Pro teams: AP first team 2019, 2023; AP second team 2018, 2022, 2024; Pro Football Writers first team 2019, 2023; Sporting News first team 2023.

SeasonTeamGRecYdsTD
2017San Francisco 49ers15435152
2018San Francisco 49ers16881,3775
2019San Francisco 49ers14851,0535
2020San Francisco 49ers8486342
2021San Francisco 49ers14719106
2022San Francisco 49ers156076511
2023San Francisco 49ers16651,0206
2024San Francisco 49ers15781,1068
2025San Francisco 49ers11576287
2026 (so far)San Francisco 49ers5212684
NFL career1296168,27656

Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0), matched to him by his draft pick and college (Player ids: DynastyProcess (GPL-3.0)). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat. Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams by NFL season: rosters and honors, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

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