Even without games, the injuries won’t stop. Despite leaving last week’s game perfectly healthy, San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle did not practice on Thursday.
Should fantasy football managers expect to have the top tight end in Week 3?
Will George Kittle Play in Week 3 vs. the Rams?
When the Rams host the 49ers this week, these two teams will look nothing like they did in August. The Rams are without Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, and a host of offensive linemen. The 49ers are without Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Ricky Pearsall, and now, potentially Kittle.
The longtime 49ers tight end did briefly depart last week’s game. The notification that he was carted to the locker room was a scary one. However, it turned out that Kittle just needed an IV. He was not injured.
Kittle practiced in full on Wednesday, indicating there was nothing to be concerned about. Unfortunately, Kittle was absent from Thursday’s practice. According to Adam Schefter, Kittle experienced tightness in his hamstring.
49ers TE George Kittle was not spotted at practice today and is experiencing tightness in his hamstring, per source. With no practice today, his status for Sunday’s game vs. the Rams is in question. pic.twitter.com/Zyme882J17
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 19, 2024
If there is any positive to take away, it’s that Kittle is dealing with tightness and not an outright strain. At the same time, this is the exact description we got of A.J. Brown’s injury last week, and he’s out multiple weeks.
Kittle was initially listed as doubtful on Friday’s injury report, but the team later downgraded him to out.
Who Are the Other Fantasy Options To Consider on the 49ers?
In a matter of two weeks, the 49ers went from an offense with too many mouths to feed to one bereft of talent. Three of their top four pass catchers are sidelined.
This is an obvious smash spot for Brandon Aiyuk against a very beatable Rams secondary that was just torched by Marvin Harrison Jr. Of course, Aiyuk is not exactly available for anyone looking for a Kittle replacement. Also, he doesn’t play tight end.
Kittle’s absence props Jauan Jennings into borderline must-start territory. He’s played about 50% of the snaps in each of the first two weeks and has earned a total of nine targets.
With Samuel out, Jennings was already set to be the clear WR2, starting opposite Aiyuk. Now that Kittle is down, too, Jennings becomes the No. 2 option in the passing game.
The 49ers will undoubtedly lean heavily on Jordan Mason, but they will have to pass the ball some of the time. Jennings is a solid WR3 play.
At tight end, I actually think Eric Saubert is a viable fill-in for Kittle. The situation is dire across the NFL, with only a couple of tight ends reliable weekly starters.
Saubert only played 37% of the snaps last week, but he was the clear TE2. During the brief time Kittle was in the locker room, Saubert earned two targets, catching both for 26 yards.
Back in 2019 and 2020, Ross Dwelley had bouts of TE2 relevance during games Kittle missed. Saubert can do the same thing. Don’t expect any sort of big-time performance, but if he can catch three passes for 30 yards and maybe score a touchdown, that’s good enough for me.