Who Should I Start? George Kittle or AJ Barner

Sunday, March 29, 11:46 AM

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch said that tight end George Kittle (Achilles) is doing "very good" in his recovery from a torn Achilles in the postseason and that the team is hopeful that he'll be ready to play in Week 1 of the 2026 season, according to Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group. Kittle will be managed carefully during training camp this summer, but "he's progressing at a good rate." The 32-year-old veteran tore his Achilles tendon in the team's Wild-Card round win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 11 and went under the knife a week later. Fantasy managers shouldn't take this as gospel that Kittle will be ready for the start of the regular season, as ESPN's Nick Wagoner reported over a month ago that the Pro Bowl tight end might not return until around Week 5. Kittle is a high-end TE1 option for fantasy managers when he's healthy, but the uncertainty around his injury going into 2026 will cause his price to drop. He finished as the TE11 in half-PPR scoring in 2025 with 57 catches for 628 yards and seven touchdowns in only 11 regular-season games played.