The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week One opener against the San Francisco 49ers will be fully of great matchups. Ex-Steelers’ DT Javon Hargrave facing the Steelers’ interior defensive line. LT Trent Williams squaring off against Alex Highsmith. TE Pat Freiermuth against LB Fred Warner, arguably the league’s best coverage linebacker today.
For 49ers’ tight end George Kittle, he’s hoping to make it a quiet outing for Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt. While not a direct challenge issued to him, Kittle recently joined Pardon My Take and was confident in his ability to pass protect.
“Me. If it comes to blocking, I’ll toot my own horn,” Kittle said when asked who the best pass blocking tight end in the league is.”
Kittle is a rare breed at tight end with true do-it-all ability. Underutilized in a conservative Iowa offense, he became a draft steal, selected by the 49ers in the 5th round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He’s emerged as one of the game’s top tight ends and its best blocker, taking as much pride in doing the dirty work at the line of scrimmage as he does catching touchdown passes.
While he may not pass protect a ton, the 49ers want to get him out in space, it’s a role almost all starting tight ends have to occasionally do. No matter the matchup, Kittle believes he can win.
“You’re 1-on-1 versus Cam Jordan. You’re 1-on-1 versus T.J. Watt, go for it. He gets paid millions of dollars to rush the passer but I look at it as an opportunity for me to be like, ‘you’re not going to be able to get past me.’ And I’m very excited about it.”
According to PFF’s premium stats, Kittle stayed in to pass protect 45 times in 2022, or just under 8% of the time. Though a small sample size, he graded out as one of the position’s worst blockers, a lowly 101st out of 127 names. By contrast, Pittsburgh’s Pat Freiermuth ranked 28th with a much higher grade, though the eye test probably doesn’t match up with those rankings. Both men attended this past week’s Tight End University and can hash it out there, who do seem to be friends off the field.
Against the Steelers, Kittle may be asked to stay in and help quite a bit come Week One. The 49ers’ right tackle spot is in flux after losing Mike McGlinchey to the Denver Broncos this offseason. Their top name on the current depth chart is former 5th round pick Colton McKivitz, who has made just five starts in three years. On the road at a loud Acrisure Stadium, the 49ers can’t let Watt take over the opener the way he did to the Cincinnati Bengals a year ago before partially tearing his pec late in the game. So Kittle will probably chip and block Watt throughout and his words will be put to the test.
Watch the whole interview with PFTCommenter and Big Katz below.
