San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle has been one of the at his position in the league for a while now, which is probably why the team gave him a four-year, $76.4 million extension earlier this offseason to make him the highest-paid tight end in the NFL at $19.1 million per year.

When the 49ers took Kittle in the fifth round (No. 146 overall) of the 2017 NFL draft out of Iowa, where he was primarily primarily a blocker and red-zone threat, they didn’t know he’d turn into the player he is today.

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Over his eight seasons in the league, Kittle has caught 538 passes for 7,380 yards and 45 touchdowns while still showing off his blocking prowess frequently. His play has earned him six Pro Bowl selections and All-Pro honors five times.

On Friday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler released his annual tight end rankings, which is voted on by NFL executives, scouts and coaches, and Kittle came in at No. 2.

“He’s shown that when he’s healthy he’s the most complete player at the position,” an AFC scout said. “Durability is the only thing that’s really affected that. He embodies San Francisco’s culture and that’s why they keep paying him.”

Injuries may have slowed him down at points, but he’s still going out there and playing most of the time. Since the league switched to 17-game regular seasons in 2021, Kittle has appeared in 60 of 68 potential games.

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Surprisingly, the lone tight end to come in above Kittle is Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers, who is coming off of the best rookie season we’ve ever seen from a tight end, where he caught 112 passes for 1,194 yards and five scores. It’s incredible that the Georgia product is getting that level of respect right away.

Detroit’s Sam LaPorta, Arizona’s Trey McBride, Kansas City’s Travis Kelce, Baltimore’s Mark Andrews, Minnesota’s T.J. Hockenson, Baltimore’s Isaiah Likely, Philadelphia’s Dallas Goedert and Cleveland’s David Njoku rounded out the top 10.

Kittle was also ranked second in last year’s poll, but this year, the highest he was ranked by an individual was first and the lowest was fourth.

Kittle isn’t getting any younger, but if Bowers slows down in his second season, the 49ers tight end could claim that top spot in 2026.

More 49ers: 49ers receiving surprising grade from ESPN in offseason recap

This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers’ George Kittle named the second-best TE in the NFL entering 2025