Which 49er teammate is George Kittle picking for MVP?
Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein spoke to the San Francisco tight end about how quarterback Brock Purdy is leading the 49ers offense, what makes running back Christian McCaffrey so special, and who he would pick for MVP between his standout teammates. George joined Yahoo Sports on behalf of Alka-Seltzer.
Video Transcript
[AUDIO LOGO]
JORI EPSTEIN: Hello, I am Jori Epstein with Yahoo Sports, here today with San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle. George, great to see you. How are you doing today?
GEORGE KITTLE: I'm lovely this morning. How are you doing? It's a great day.
JORI EPSTEIN: It is a great day. And especially when I see all of your holiday spirit, how can it not be a great day? It seems like the MVP is coming out of San Francisco somewhere. So why don't we start with your quarterback, Brock Purdy, currently the betting favorite for NFL MVP. We see his numbers and film, but why don't you describe for us what Brock can do and what he is doing on the field this season?
GEORGE KITTLE: He's doing such a great job of distributing the ball to us, but at such a high level. And you see these plays that he's consistently making off script and off-- it's not a three-step drop hitch throw. We're not just running slants and throwing the ball over the top. We're not running a basic offense. Coach Shanahan's offense is very in depth, and it's very strategic, and it changes week in and week out.
Every single week is a brand new install. We're relearning over 150 plays weekly. There's a lot that's going into this process, and he's doing an excellent job of doing it. And then you see all the off-schedule stuff of him rolling out, keeping his eyes upfield, and just dropping dimes. Or as Brandon Aiyuk would say, he's just throwing dots. And he's just doing such a good job of doing it.
And anyone that's talking about Brock like, oh, he's managing the game. He just has all these great players, he's got a great coach, got a great defense. Look, our offense is the best it's ever been in my career. It's not because-- yes, Christian is really good. Deebo is really good. Aiyuk's good. I'm good. Juszczyk's good. Jauan Jennings.
We have great players, yes. But he's the guy distributing the ball, and he's doing it at such an efficient level that's allowing us to stay on the field. We don't have a lot of three and outs. We're converting on third downs. And our offenses look better than it ever has.
JORI EPSTEIN: OK, but it's funny you say this. Because Brock was asked after your win in Arizona about Christian's case for MVP and says, well, he thinks--
GEORGE KITTLE: Oh, I've got a soapbox for that too.
JORI EPSTEIN: Oh, let's go. Let's go. Let's hear it. Because what would you tell MVP voters about Christian's contributions?
GEORGE KITTLE: This is my thing. Look, I know that the MVP award goes to-- it's the most valuable player. And I know that the quarterback position is the most important position in sports. Because if your quarterback-- if you don't have your quarterback, it's really hard to win football games. And you can see that all over the league this entire season.
JORI EPSTEIN: You've seen it pretty recently.
GEORGE KITTLE: Yes, I see it. I understand quarterback is very important. However, the MVP should not just be the who's the best quarterback award. Look at the things that McCaffrey has done with 20 touchdowns. There's no one on the football field doing what Christian McCaffrey is doing, the way that he's running the ball, the way that he's protecting the ball, the way that he's catching the ball and scoring touchdowns. He had 2 receiving touchdowns yesterday and a rushing touchdown.
And it's a team sport. Don't get me wrong. But every time Christian touches the ball, our whole offense is like, all right, well, he's going to get 10 to 20 to 50 yards. And it's just when you have a guy that inspires your teammates like that to play at a high level, how is that not the most valuable player?
JORI EPSTEIN: I've got to ask you. For the first time this year, I'll be voting for MVP. And by January 8, 3:00 PM Eastern, I have to rank them. So I've got five votes, but only one person can be my first-place MVP vote. Who should I vote for?
GEORGE KITTLE: I'd vote for Christian.
JORI EPSTEIN: Wow. Wow.
GEORGE KITTLE: I would. I see him every day. He's amazing. Everything he does, his mindset, everything. And again, Brock's playing unreal. He has all these first statistical categories.
JORI EPSTEIN: I get five. One in first place, but five. So I can put them both down.
GEORGE KITTLE: Yeah, no. But yeah, Christian's my number one.
JORI EPSTEIN: Wow.
GEORGE KITTLE: The things that he's doing this year are just incredible.
JORI EPSTEIN: All right, before we get you out of here, the reason that we are here today, Alka-Seltzer. Take me through what you guys are working on together and what you want our fans to know.
GEORGE KITTLE: I've been using Alka-Seltzer for over 10 years now, which is pretty fun. I really enjoy working with brands that I actually use the product of. And I've been using Alka-Seltzer for a long time. So besides that, everyone knows that I like to have fun, whether it's on the football field or off the football field. And so all we're trying to get-- Alka-Seltzer came up with this idea.
We're trying to say yes to going big on game day, having a great time, and then not really care about the unwanted symptoms you might get after that because Alka-Seltzer has got your back. They're going to help you with all that other stuff. So you enjoy yourself, drink a little bit-- water, H2O, and other things-- eat some wings and burgers, do whatever you want, have fun. Alka-Seltzer has got your back.
JORI EPSTEIN: Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. I'm sure I will see you at a playoff game soon. And best of luck with the rest of the season.
GEORGE KITTLE: Thank you so much.