San Francisco 49ers: George Kittle training with Tony Gonzalez is gold

The San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle may already be one of the best tight ends in the NFL, but he’s about to get even better after training with the legendary Tony Gonzalez.

After his breakout 2018 season, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle is already looking like a superstar. As it turns out, his development could be getting an additional boost this offsseason from an NFL legend.

According to 49ers tight end coach John Embree, Kittle has been matched with future Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez for a few days of training this offseason.  This all came to light during Embree’s recent guest appearance on Matt Maiocco’s 49ers Insider Podcast.

"Me and him [Embree and Gonzalez] are going to go have dinner with George, because I want him to share some things with Kittle, that him and I have done together that helped him be successful and just some things from a mindset standpoint that he did that George needs to do to sustain success.George and him are going to do some stuff, stay down there and do some stuff over a week’s period. Getting to know each other a little bit and doing some things. Tony is someone that has continued to watch players and knows how I work, and things I want done. So Tony is going to work with him on some of those things and teach him some tricks and nuances."

If you’re a 49ers fan, that should have you smiling from ear to ear. Not only has Kittle already flashed the potential to be a dominant tight end, but he’ll now be getting pointers from arguably the greatest tight end of all-time.

To top it off, Gonzalez should have a terrific idea of what Embree wants out of his young tight end. The two worked together during their days with the Atlanta Falcons, where Embree coached the unstoppable touchdown machine. Considering their history, Gonzalez should have no trouble pointing Kittle in the right direction.

Kittle is coming off a historic season during which he broke the single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end with 1,377. He also nearly broke the single-game record for receiving yards by a tight end, amassing 210 yards and falling just four shy of Shannon Sharpe‘s mark of 214. The crazy part is all 210 of those yards came before halftime.

Put simply, this is a golden opportunity for Kittle. We’ve already seen what he can do on the field, but there’s plenty more potential to be tapped. He’s only 25 years old, and will be entering his third season in the NFL. To say there’s more room for him to grow and improve is a severe understatement.

Can Kittle put on an encore of his 2018 performance? With Jimmy Garoppolo back under center and Gonzalez providing guidance, it seems feasible that he could have an even better campaign in 2019. Only time will tell, though.