George Kittle belongs in the Elite TE conversation

Brock Bowers and Trey McBride are universally regarded as the top TEs in fantasy football heading into 2025, with both of them typically going inside the first two rounds of drafts.

But there's a third tight end that I believe belongs in the conversation as well: George Kittle, who I believe should be a top-30 player and have him ranked as such in my first set of rankings in the Draft Dominator.

Let's go over why George Kittle might be the high-end steal of drafts in 2025.

George Kittle has shown massive upside without Deebo Samuel and/or Brandon Aiyuk

George Kittle is averaging 17.5(!) PPR points and 7.0 targets per game in 15 career games where Brock Purdy threw at least 20 passes BUT Deebo Samuel and/or Brandon Aiyuk played 20 or fewer offensive snaps. For comparison, Kittle averaged 13.2 PPR points and 5.3 targets in 21 career games where Purdy threw at least 20 passes AND Deebo Samuel & Brandon Aiyuk played at least 35 offensive snaps.

Deebo is now on the Commanders, leaving that historical downside comparison thrown out the window, and we have no idea (as of this writing) when Brandon Aiyuk will be back on the active roster - and it'll be even longer before he's fully healthy.

Is there anyone who is target competition left on the roster?

The removal of Deebo and Aiyuk frees up 12-13(ish) targets per game in the 49ers' offense, at least in the short term. George Kittle could very well be the number one option in the 49ers' passing attack early on. Until Brandon Aiyuk joins the fray, Kittle will compete for targets with:

• Last year's 1st round pick, Ricky Pearsall;

• Former 7th round pick Jauan Jennings (who did break out as a late bloomer last season, but has expressed discontent with the 49ers recently due to his contract situation);

• A 29 year old Christian McCaffrey coming off yet another injury (and who typically runs different routes than Kittle would); and

• 31 year old journeyman Demarcus Robinson who has never been a high volume target earner.

I don't see any way to read this other than there is plenty of opportunity for elite TE production, especially early.

I would draft George Kittle in the third round of PPR drafts

Right now, I have George Kittle ranked at number 27 overall - directly behind Trey McBride. That's a full round ahead of his current average ADP across sites. I'm making it a priority to get George Kittle in many of my best ball drafts over on Drafters before the market adjusts to take him earlier and earlier - and there's no doubt that subscribers to Basement Brewed Fantasy Football are joining in on that priority, too.

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