George Kittle is once again an Αll-Pro, but the San Francisco 49ers tight end has a right to be disappointed with the voting after he missed out on a first-team selection.
Kittle had to make do with second-team Αll-Pro honors despite racking up the fourth 1,000-yard season of his glittering career, the first-team tight end spot instead going to rookie Brock Bowers of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Bowers is undoubtedly deserving of his recognition. He led tight ends in receiving yards with 1,194 and receptions (112), with the latter setting the rookie record for receptions in a season at any position.
But was he truly superior to Kittle, a first-team Αll-Pro in 2023, during the 2024 season? Dig into the evidence, and it’s easy to see the answer is no.
Bowers had just 88 more yards than Kittle (1,106) and just five touchdowns to Kittle’s eight, despite playing two extra games. The best ability is availability, as the old cliche goes, but Kittle’s greater efficiency is borne out in a number of statistics.
Indeed, Kittle averaged 14.2 yards per reception compared to 10.7 for Bowers. Receptions for Kittle had a 73.4 percent success rate, while 60.8 percent of Bowers’ catches got the yardage required to be considered successful.
Perhaps the best statistic that illustrates Kittle’s dominance is Sports Info Solutions’ ‘points earned’ metric, which takes Expected Points Αdded and gives a value to every player on the field for each scrimmage play.
On receiving plays, Kittle ranked first in the NFL in the 2024 regular season with 39.49. Bowers was 17th with 23.39.
Of course, tight end play is not just about making an impact as a receiver. However, as was the case last season, Kittle was the gold standard as a blocker, too. Kittle was first among tight ends in points earned on blocking plays with 13.84, while Bowers ended the season with 6.54.
Despite the numbers being in his favor, Kittle would be the first to recognize the importance of rewarding Bowers for his piece of history.
Yet when Kittle broke the record for receiving yards in a season by a tight end in 2018, racking up 1,377, he was again forced to settle for second-team honors behind Travis Kelce.
To be fair to Kelce, he broke that record prior to Kittle doing so and 2018 with 1,336 yards and 10 touchdowns in Patrick Mahomes’ first MVP season.
Still, Kittle had reason to feel aggrieved back then, and he would be forgiven for feeling discontent this year after another season in which he was clearly the best tight end in football.
Kittle, to his great credit, is not a person who will allow the announcement of an Αll-Pro team to impact his consistently cheery disposition. Still, the case that the voters got this one wrong is extremely strong.
