George Kittle Is Remarkable at Yards per Team Pass Attempt

by Chase Stuart on January 25, 2020

in Checkdowns

Super Bowl LIV features the two best tight ends in the game: Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and San Francisco’s George Kittle. Over the last six seasons, Kelce has averaged 1,078 receiving yards per season, and he’s posted four straight 1,000-yard years. But it was Kittle who was the top tight end this year according to the AP, and the top player overall according to Pro Football Focus.

Kittle is an excellent blocker and an outstanding receiver, but today, I want to focus on his receiving numbers. While Kittle put together a great season working with Jimmy Garoppolo, he ranked “only” 3rd in receiving yards among tight ends. That’s because the 49ers were one of the most run-heavy teams this year: Kelce’s Chiefs threw 97 more passes than the 49ers, while Oakland’s Darren Waller played on a team that threw 45 more passes than San Francisco.

In terms of pure receiving yards per team pass attempt, Kittle was best in the league.

Rk	Tight End	Team	Rec Yd	Team Pass Att	Rec Yd/TPA
1	George Kittle	SFO	1053	478	2.20
2	Darren Waller	OAK	1146	523	2.19
3	Travis Kelce	KAN	1229	575	2.14
4	Mark Andrews	BAL	852	439	1.94
5	Zach Ertz	PHI	916	612	1.50
6	Jared Cook	NOR	705	581	1.21
7	Tyler Higbee	LAR	734	629	1.17
8	Austin Hooper	ATL	787	684	1.15
9	Noah Fant	DEN	562	504	1.12
10	Hunter Henry	LAC	652	597	1.09
11	Dallas Goedert	PHI	607	612	0.99
12	Jonnu Smith	TEN	439	446	0.98
13	Greg Olsen	CAR	597	632	0.94
14	Mike Gesicki	MIA	570	613	0.93
15	Jason Witten	DAL	529	597	0.89
16	Jack Doyle	IND	448	513	0.87
17	Hayden Hurst	BAL	349	439	0.79
18	Kyle Rudolph	MIN	367	466	0.79
19	Jordan Akins	HOU	418	534	0.78
20	Jimmy Graham	GNB	447	573	0.78
21	Evan Engram	NYG	467	607	0.77
22	Dawson Knox	BUF	388	513	0.76
23	Nick Boyle	BAL	321	439	0.73
24	Eric Ebron	IND	375	513	0.73
25	O.J. Howard	TAM	459	630	0.73
26	Tyler Eifert	CIN	436	616	0.71
27	Jacob Hollister	SEA	349	517	0.68
28	Irv Smith	MIN	311	466	0.67
29	Gerald Everett	LAR	408	629	0.65
30	T.J. Hockenson	DET	367	571	0.64
31	Darren Fells	HOU	341	534	0.64
32	Ryan Griffin	NYJ	320	521	0.61
33	Blake Jarwin	DAL	365	597	0.61
34	Vance McDonald	PIT	273	510	0.54
35	Will Dissly	SEA	262	517	0.51
36	Jeremy Sprinkle	WAS	241	479	0.50
37	Cameron Brate	TAM	311	630	0.49
38	Delanie Walker	TEN	215	446	0.48
39	Anthony Firkser	TEN	204	446	0.46
40	Kaden Smith	NYG	268	607	0.44

But even that is misleading, as Kittle missed two games this year due to injury…. and those were the two most pass-happy games the 49ers had all season (probably not a coincidence). In the 14 games that Kittle played, San Francisco threw only 387 passes. This means Kittle’s 1,053 yards really came at a much more efficient rate: he averaged a whopping 2.72 receiving yards per team attempt in the games he was active. That is ridiculous!

How ridiculous? Well, since 1970, the single best mark in receiving yards per team pass attempt by a tight end was 2.59… set by Kittle last year, when he was mostly catching passes from Nick Mullens. The table below shows all tight end seasons since 1970 where a tight end averaged at least 2.00 receiving yards per team pass attempt.

Rk	Tight End	Team	Year	G	Rec Yd	Team Pass Att	Rec Yd/TPA
1	George Kittle	SFO	2018	16	1377	532	2.59
2	Todd Christensen	RAI	1983	16	1247	504	2.47
3	Rich Caster	NYJ	1972	14	833	347	2.40
4	Travis Kelce	KAN	2018	16	1336	583	2.29
5	Tony Gonzalez	KAN	2004	16	1258	561	2.24
6	Antonio Gates	SDG	2009	16	1157	519	2.23
7	Bob Tucker	NYG	1972	14	764	344	2.22
8	Greg Olsen	CAR	2015	16	1104	501	2.20
9	George Kittle	SFO	2019	14	1053	478	2.20
10	Darrin Waller	OAK	2019	16	1146	523	2.19
11	Todd Christensen	RAI	1986	16	1153	530	2.18
12	Kellen Winslow	SDG	1980	16	1290	594	2.17
13	Rob Gronkowski	NWE	2011	16	1327	612	2.17
14	Shannon Sharpe	DEN	1997	16	1107	513	2.16
15	Jason Witten	DAL	2007	16	1145	531	2.16
16	Antonio Gates	SDG	2004	15	964	450	2.14
17	Travis Kelce	KAN	2019	16	1229	575	2.14
18	Rich Caster	NYJ	1975	14	820	384	2.14
19	Kellen Winslow	SDG	1982	9	721	338	2.13
20	Mark Bavaro	NYG	1986	16	1001	472	2.12
21	Riley Odoms	DEN	1978	16	829	391	2.12
22	Antonio Gates	SDG	2005	15	1101	526	2.09
23	Antonio Gates	SDG	2007	16	984	471	2.09
24	Tony Gonzalez	KAN	2007	16	1172	563	2.08
25	Jim Mitchell	ATL	1971	13	593	285	2.08
26	Tony Gonzalez	KAN	2000	16	1203	582	2.07
27	Travis Kelce	KAN	2016	16	1125	546	2.06
28	Todd Christensen	RAI	1984	16	1007	491	2.05
29	Vernon Davis	SFO	2013	15	850	417	2.04
30	Kellen Winslow	CLE	2007	16	1106	545	2.03
31	Ozzie Newsome	CLE	1984	16	1001	495	2.02
32	Rich Caster	NYJ	1974	13	745	369	2.02
33	Tony Gonzalez	KAN	2006	15	900	450	2.00
34	Dave Casper	HOU	1982	9	573	287	2.00

Kittle just finished his third season, and he’s now arguably produced the two top receiving seasons since 1970 by a tight end in one of the key measures of receiving play.

Tagged as: George Kittle, Tight Ends

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