GeorgeKittle

News: 7 hours agoKittle won't practice Thursday due to a hamstring injury, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reports.

Spin: Kittle wasn't included on the 49ers' initial Week 3 injury report, but he'll be given Thursday off after experiencing tightness in his hamstring coming out of Wednesday's practice session, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. The mid-week absence suddenly threatens Kittle's availability for Sunday's game against the Rams, but the 49ers won't decide whether he'll carry a designation into the weekend until after Friday's practice. With starting wideout Deebo Samuel (calf) already expected to miss Sunday's contest, Kittle's status takes on even greater significance than usual.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Despite experiencing a dip in overall efficiency, Kittle buoyed his fantasy stock by scoring 11 TDs in 2022. A regression was, therefore, anticipated heading into 2023. Kittle's TDs did, in fact, decline (with three of his six scores occurring in Week 5), but the 30-year-old still posted a top-five positional fantasy finish, recording a career high in yards per target (11.3) and yards per reception (15.7), both best among TEs. While Kittle was second on the team in targets (behind Brandon Aiyuk), his week-to-week volume fluctuated, presenting a frustrating conundrum for fantasy managers. Kittle's do-it-all skill set combined with the depth of pass-catchers in the 49ers' offense figures to lead to boom-or-bust play again in 2024.