The San Francisco 49ers continued to focus on offense as they began on day three of the NFL Draft, adding TE George Kittle and WR Trent Taylor, before going back to bolstering the defense.
George Kittle:
The San Francisco 49ers have reunited quarterback C.J. Beathard with his tight end George Kittle, and in many ways, Kittle can thank his QB for the opportunity.
“Leading up to this? Let’s see, the first time I talked to them was at, they came, the quarterback’s coach [Rich Scangarello] came to throw [49ers QB] C.J. Beathard and I was running routes for him and then the next day they called me to see if I wanted to come out for a visit and then I visited them last Tuesday and was there all day Wednesday. I had a great time. Great coaches, just great people and a great facility.”
Having played in a pro-style offense at Iowa, Kittle is not concerned about transitioning to the NFL, and he knows he can contribute in a variety of ways.
“Well, I think my game overall, I think I’m a very versatile player, 250-pounds, I can have my hands in the dirt and I can block anybody that you want me to block,” said Kittle. “You can move me around, run routes, and do whatever you want me to do. I feel like I can catch the ball well, run routes well. I think that’s my best thing is that I can do, I’m a versatile guy.”
In terms of football character, Kittle seems to be the type of player general manager John Lynch has been looking for throughout the draft.
“If they wanted me to run two routes a game and block for the rest of them, that’s what I did,” said Kittle. “You know, I put my team before anything that I wanted to do. So, I’m a person that could care less about stats. I just care about winning games and I love the game of football so it’s pretty easy for me just to go out there and run block if that’s what I need to do.”
As for Beathard’s love of football, Kittle sums it up best.
“You know, I was blessed to be with C.J. since freshman year and he’s just a guy that, he loves football more than anything, other than maybe his daughter,” said Kittle. “But, he lives and breathes it. It’s all he cares about. And he is a genius in the film room and on the football field. He knows absolutely everything that everybody’s gonna do.”
I’ll assume he loves his daughter more than football.
Trent Taylor:
Over at wide receiver, the 49ers added a slot receiver in Trent Taylor. In 2016, he caught 136 passes for 1,803 yards and 12 touchdowns. Those are some pretty good numbers.
“I always get the comparisons of all the slot guys like [former NFL WR Wes] Welker, [Cowboys WR Cole] Beasley, [New England Patriot WR Julian] Edelman,” said Taylor. “I mean, that’s what I’ve heard my whole life, but I’d like to go into the NFL and just be my own guy, be who Trent Taylor is, which I mean, I can learn a lot from those guys before me and I can learn a lot from any receiver. I like to watch all types of receivers when it comes to either [Atlanta Falcons WR] Julio Jones, or the big guys. There’s always something you can learn from anybody. I don’t think there’s anybody specific I compare myself to. I just try to watch them all and learn from everybody.”
The 49ers rounded out the draft on defense, picking DL D.J. Jones, DL Pita Taumoepenu, and DB Adrian Colbert. When all was said and done, they also signed 14 underrated free agents. Cuts, they are coming.
Welcome to the 49ers gentleman! Go Niners!
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