Should I Start George Kittle?

Sunday, November 8, 6:04 PM

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle caught four of his seven targets for 58 yards during Sunday's Week 9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. This isn't a bad stat line by any means, but it was somewhat modest when you consider that the 49ers dropped 38 points and 414 total yards of offense. San Francisco demonstrated a clear commitment to running the ball; head coach Kyle Shanahan said that he wanted to run the ball 40 times on Sunday, and indeed, the team finished with 43 rush attempts. We expect Kittle to return to his mid-to-high TE1 form next week, especially with the 49ers dealing with plenty of injuries at the wide receiver position. The physical pass-catcher has the opportunity to continue operating as Brock Purdy's favorite target if Mike Evans (Achilles) and Deebo Samuel Sr. (hamstring) are forced to miss more time.