What You Need to Know:

• Kittle has been a top 3 fantasy TE in each of the past 2 seasons.
• And that’s despite some bad TD luck, scoring on just 10 of his 173 catches.
• He projects for similar production in 2020, returning to the same offense with the same QB.

2 straight seasons of elite production

Kittle turned in his 2nd straight top-3 fantasy season in 2019. He broke out with a monster 88-1,377-5 line in 2018, finishing 3rd among TEs in PPR points and 2nd in non-PPR. Then he followed that up with 85 catches for 1,053 yards and 5 TDs this past year. And that was despite missing 2 games with a knee injury and broken bone in his ankle. Kittle still finished 3rd at his position in total PPR and non-PPR points; 2nd across formats in points per game.

Over the past 2 seasons, Kittle ranks 3rd among TEs in catches and 2nd in yards. He’s actually been a bit unlucky in the TD department with just 10 total scores — tied for 6th at the position. His 5.8% TD rate is about 2.4 percentage points below the league-wide average for TEs. Still, Kittle sits 2nd in both PPR and non-PPR points per game since 2018.

He’s benefited from 243 total targets over the last 2 years — 3rd most — but has also been 1 of the game’s most efficient TEs. His 14.1 yards per catch ranks 6th among 54 TEs with 50+ targets across the past 2 seasons. Kittle’s 10.0 yards per target is good for 2nd. He led all TEs with 30+ targets in yards per route run in both 2018 and 2019. In fact, Kittle’s 3.12 yards per route run last year led all 195 players, regardless of position, with 30+ targets.

2020 outlook

Don’t expect much to change for Kittle in 2020. He returns to the same offense under Kyle Shanahan and with the same QB in Jimmy Garoppolo. The 49ers lost WR Emmanuel Sanders in free agency and are hoping to replace him with 1st-round rookie Brandon Aiyuk.

But Kittle should lead this team in targets for the 3rd straight year.…