The Facts: How do you improve on the most receiving yards by a tight end in NFL history? Kittle already knows how. The 49ers tight end, who made 88 catches for 1,377 yards and five touchdowns, said Kyle Shanahan offered a suggestion. “Coach Shanahan said that out of all the tight ends he’s ever had, I do a lot of things really, really well,” Kittle said. “But I’m still third [among that group] in route running. So that’s one of the challenges he gave to me. And that’s certainly one thing I’ll focus on this offseason.”
Diehards Line:During his nine seasons as a coordinator, Shanahan coached three tight ends — Houston’s Owen Daniels, Washington’s Chris Cooley and Cleveland’s Jordan Cameron — who went to at least one Pro Bowl. Kittle already showed in his second season he has a chance to be special. How special? As Pro Football Focus pointed out, no player in the PFF era has ever racked up more yards after the catch in a single season than Kittle did in 2018. Not just tight ends – everyone. His 873 yards after the catch were also 200 more than we’ve ever seen from a tight end before. Those numbers are even more impressive when you consider that his targets came from backup quarterbacks all season.