Fantasy Football: 10 Sleepers to Target Late in Your Draft
George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers
ADP: 11.08 (TE12)
George Kittle is shaping up as the ideal late-round tight end this season.
The first box Kittle checks is volume. He's in line for a good amount of it, with Garrett Celek, who has never had more than 30 grabs or 350 yards in a season, as his chief competition at tight end. Elsewhere, the 49ers' passing game isn't exactly overflowing with weapons as Marquise Goodwin and Pierre Garcon pace the receiver depth chart.
Kitle also offers some upside. As mentioned earlier with Breida, our models project San Fran to have the league's ninth-best offense, so they should be scoring a good amount of touchdowns. That's where tight ends make their hay in fantasy, and Kittle can be a red-zone weapon for Jimmy Garoppolo. If Jimmy G is anywhere near as good as he played at the end of the 2017 season, we want a piece of this offense.
Lastly, Kittle might just be good at football. Tight ends have a notoriously tough time as rookies, but Kittle had a pretty decent season last year, posting 43 catches, 515 yards and 2 scores. He ended the year ranked 18th among all tight ends in both yards and catches while checking in 15th in yards per game. Over his last three weeks, he amassed 11 receptions, 194 yards and a touchdown, so he was coming on with Jimmy G under center.
Being drafted as the TE12, Kittle is one of the better options on the board for those who wait to take a tight end, and if he ends up flopping, it's not like you paid a ton to get him, so you can drop him and stream the position the rest of the way.