49ers TE George Kittle Shares Motivational Draft Day Instagram Post With This Year's Prospects
By Mark Powell
Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle's message to the NFL's next class of stars is simple -- don't let scouts label you.
Kittle was drafted in 2017 as a fullback out of Iowa. Yet, he walked into the perfect situation with an organization which believed in him. Since then, Kittle's racked up back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons as a tight end, and is arguably the best player at his position in the entire NFL.
#49ers TE George Kittle, who was labeled as a fullback in 2017, shares a message for all the players in this year’s draft.
— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) April 23, 2020
Kittle was a 5th-round pick in 2017 and is now arguably the best TE in all of football. pic.twitter.com/LkcduPO4eb
The 49ers saw something in Kittle that others didn't. The fullback is a dying breed in the modern NFL, and John Lynch and Co. believed they could make something out of Kittle as a hybrid of sorts. Instead, Kittle has developed his body into that of a prototypical tight end, and arguably resembles a receiver at times while galloping downfield after catching a short pass from Jimmy Garoppolo.
George Kittle still TE1 ? pic.twitter.com/PHv2IwcpJe
— Fourth and Nine (@fourth_nine) April 21, 2020
Eight tight ends were selected before Kittle in the 2017 NFL Draft, and it's in part because no other team understood his potential at that position.
That's Kittle's message to prospects in 2020, and every year moving forward: believe in yourself, regardless of what the "experts" claim you to be worth.