San Francisco 49ers

Kelce could break record for most productive TE season

Published Dec. 27, 2018 10:07 a.m. ET

Josh Dubow

Travis Kelce (87) goes into Kansas City's season finale against Oakland with 1,274 yards receiving, the fourth-most ever for a tight end.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Getting a Twitter follow from Travis Kelce was one of the major accomplishments this season for San Francisco 49ers second-year tight end George Kittle.

Now heading into the final game of the season, Kittle is in a battle for Kelce in a race for the most productive season ever for a tight end.

Kelce goes into Kansas City's season finale against Oakland with 1,274 yards receiving, the fourth-most ever for a tight end. He needs 54 yards against the Raiders to break the mark set by New England's Rob Gronkowski in 2011.

But Kelce might need more than that to hold off Kittle, who goes into San Francisco's finale against the Los Angeles Rams with 1,228 yards on the season and a chance to pass not only Gronkowski but also Kelce with a big game.

Kelce and Kittle have put up their huge numbers this season in very different ways. Kelce is more a downfield threat, with his average catch coming 7.5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, a number comparable to some of the most productive receivers in the league like Antonio Brown and Michael Thomas.

Kittle does most of his work after the catch, gaining an average of 9.8 yards after making the catch — a number surpassed only by four running backs who make their average catch in the backfield.

Kittle has 775 yards in all after the catch, trailing only Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey with 824. The only other players since at least 2010 with more yards after the catch in a season are Le'Veon Bell (816 in 2014) and Matt Forte (788 in 2014).

"The thing he is doing better, that I can say he has done better than any tight end I have had, is what he is doing after the catch," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "He does a good job beating man coverage, and does a good job in his routes and does a great job blocking. But when that ball is in the air, the play is just starting. He is trying to catch it. He runs angry and runs confidently, that he expects to score on every look."