Should I Start George Kittle?

Wednesday, September 16, 8:45 PM

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (Achilles) was limited in Week 1 due to recovery from an Achilles injury, and while he remained limited in practice on Wednesday, we expect him to take on a substantially larger role going forward. As a result, he's back in the top-12 tight end range for fantasy purposes as long as he's healthy. Last year, Kittle ranked as the overall TE2 during his healthy stretch from Weeks 8-16. A healthy Kittle catching passes from Brock Purdy will fight to be the top-scoring fantasy tight end any given week, making him a must-start in all leagues. Managers who might feel spurned by his two-catch performance last week should feel some assurance knowing that he only played 45% of the offensive snaps. If he's healthy enough to play more than 75% of the snaps this week, he's a near-lock for top-12 production at the tight end position, especially after Purdy lost young target De'Zhaun Stribling (ankle) to IR.