Story by
George Kittle names his favorite emerging tight ends for 2026 season
- Story by
- George Kittle names his favorite emerging tight ends for 2026 season
George Kittle knows what a good NFL tight end looks like. Not only did the San Francisco 49ers star help start and host Tight End University , but Kittle himself is one of the best tight ends in the game. He's caught 595 career receptions for 8,008 yards and 52 touchdowns over his nine NFL seasons.
So, as another year of Tight End U approaches and another season chalk full of quality talent at the position, Kittle went on ESPN's Pat McAfee show to list his favorite emerging tight ends.
Advertisement
Kittle listed the players you would expect to be on his list: Tucker Kraft of the Green Bay Packers , Trey McBride of the Arizona Cardinals , Colston Loveland of the Chicago Bears , Tyler Warren of the Indianapolis Colts . But one player he specifically pointed out were Harold Fannin Jr. of the Cleveland Browns .
"First off, automatically awesome. [Fannin wears] No. 44. Too of my favorite players in NFL history: Kyle Juszczyk , Dallas Clark. GOATs. So you already got that working for you," Kittle said about Fannin. "And I've watched plenty of his tape, and when we played the Browns this past year, he had an awesome touchdown," Kittle said. "But like, he's a very talented player. Moves fast, has a good sense of space, can win on man-to-man, catches everything. And like he gives a lot of effort in the run game, so like he has impressed me a ton. So I'm excited about him."
Fannin Jr. finished his rookie year with 72 receptions for 731 yards and six touchdowns — numbers that ranked eighth, ninth and eighth, respectively, among all tight ends in 2025. And that was all while playing for a Browns team that ranked 31st in passing yards this past year
Advertisement
Kittle, who is approaching his 10th season and will turn 33 in October, seems to be happy with the future of his position.
"The tight end position, it's in good hands," he said. "It's growing, it's getting better."
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: George Kittle names his favorite emerging tight ends for 2026 season
