George Kittle tore his right Achilles on Jan. 11 during San Francisco's playoff win over the Eagles, and for most of the offseason that felt like a real threat to his Week 1 availability. Sunday, the 49ers took the biggest step yet toward getting him back, activating him off the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list.
Help is on the way in SF: the 49ers activated TE George Kittle from the Active/Physically Unable to Perform List.
This isn't just a paperwork move. Had Kittle stayed on PUP through Aug. 30 cutdown day, he'd have been ineligible to play until Week 5. Now he's got a real shot at suiting up Week 1 against the Rams, and per Kittle himself, the tear's location higher up the leg promotes better blood flow and recovery -- part of why he's stayed optimistic all camp. Adam Schefter, who broke the news, called it exactly that: help arriving in San Francisco.
The San Francisco 49ers activated tight end George Kittle from the physically unable to perform list Sunday, the most significant step yet in his return from a torn right Achilles. Story via @nwagoner: https://t.co/B73rwQvumI
The reaction from the football media was less about roster mechanics and more about what Kittle represents. Field Yates summed him up in three words -- "Kittle is a wolverine" -- and it tracks. This is a guy who's played through a broken foot, a fractured kneecap and now a torn Achilles and kept producing anyway. Fantasy analyst Matthew Berry is already banking on it, putting Kittle at TE8 in his rankings, a spot ahead of the current ADP of TE9, and predicting he'll only climb as his practice reps stack up.
We discussed this on the #FFHappyHour pod this week.... friend of the pod George Kittle is a freak of nature. And a good value in fantasy drafts right now. Current ADP is TE9 - I have him at TE8 & he will likely rise the more we see.
There's also a bigger medical story bubbling underneath this. ESPN injury analyst David J. Chao floated the idea that Kittle could become the face of Achilles recovery in the same way Adrian Peterson became the template for coming back from a torn ACL -- a real possibility given how aggressively Kittle has hit every benchmark the team set for him.
Kittle wasn't the only injured 49ers name trending Sunday. Christian McCaffrey, working back from his own Achilles tendon issue and a three-week absence that started Aug. 10, was seen in uniform at practice alongside rookie running back Jordan James. McCaffrey later told reporters the time away was actually the plan all along -- a deliberate break before ramping back up for the grind of an 18-week season, not a setback.
Neither Kittle nor McCaffrey was doing full team drills as of Sunday evening, so this is still very much a day-by-day situation heading into the season opener against the Rams on Sept. 10 in Melbourne. But for a 49ers offense that's been starving for its two best skill players to be on the field together, activation off PUP and a jersey at practice are the first real signs that might actually happen in Week 1.