Fantasy Football Week 4 Tight End Rankings: Can you trust George Kittle?

Chris Towers walks you through his tight end rankings for Week 4

By Chris Towers

Oct 2, 2022 at 10:01 am ET • 2 min read

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Last week, all of the talk at tight end was about how you needed to keep the faith in Kyle Pitts, and he rewarded you with his best game of the season. There hasn't been as much panic about George Kittle coming off his lackluster season debut, but if you are inclined to be worried, I'm here to tell you, you shouldn't be. Probably.

Kittle returned from his groin injury in Week 3 with just four catches for 28 yards as the 49ers offense looked disjointed in an ugly 11-10 loss to the Broncos. He played 91% of the snaps but was targeted just five times, a pretty disappointing outcome. And, given the concerns many – including myself – had about Kittle coming into the season, you might be worried he's about to be a bust.

But, it's worth noting that, at least for me, the primary concern for Kittle is gone. Trey Lance's season-ending injury brings some certainty to the 49ers offense – Jimmy Garoppolo may not be great, but we know he's good enough to get the most out of Kittle. Kittle averaged 76.4 yards per game from 2018 through 2021, primarily with Garoppolo as his QB. As bad as Garoppolo looked Monday, I'm not really worried about that part of things.

The only thing I am worried about is the fact that both Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel are currently healthy. That trio has played 21 games together since the start of 2020, and Kittle's production has been affected – his 17-game pace in those games is 114 targets, 84 catches, 1,017 yards, and 5.7 touchdowns. You'd still take that from your starting tight end, obviously, but the numbers are a bit more precarious since the start of 2021: 101 targets, 73 catches, 865 yards, and five touchdowns.

Kittle should still be a must-start tight end no matter what, and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here. But, it's possible he's merely a good starting option rather than the difference maker you're hoping for.

Here are my tight end rankings for Week 4.