​Brock Purdy and George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers have quietly built one of the most efficient quarterback-tight end connections in modern NFL history, according to Pro Football Focus. Among all quarterback and pass-catcher pairs with at least 75 targets since PFF began tracking grades, Purdy and Kittle rank fourth overall at 0.750 EPA per play, trailing only the Justin Fields-DJ Moore duo, the Drew Brees-Kenny Stills pairing, and the Sam Bradford-Adam Thielen combination. This mark stands as the best of any tight end duo in the sample and edges out the Jon Kitna-Jason Witten pair, all while benefiting from substantially higher volume than most of the duos above them.
Over four seasons spanning 2022 through 2025, Purdy has targeted Kittle 269 times—more than any other top-15 quarterback-tight end duo by at least 52 targets—amassing 3,035 yards, 26 touchdowns, and a 139.7 passer rating. The same connection continued to shine in 2025. Among all qualifying tight ends (minimum 25 targets), the Purdy-Kittle duo ranked fifth in the NFL at 0.59 EPA per play this past season, delivering 41 catches on 49 targets for 475 yards, five touchdowns, and zero interceptions. This marked a fourth consecutive season in the top tier of the position for the duo, and they have never finished a season below 0.58 EPA per play.
In 2026, another 49ers tight end joined the conversation just ahead of that tandem: Jake Tonges. He ranked sixth at 0.58 EPA per play with Purdy as his quarterback, catching 20 of 27 targets for 213 yards and three touchdowns, posting a 40.7% positive-play rate—higher than Kittle’s 36.7% for the year. The two 49ers tight ends placed back-to-back on the league-wide list, a rare feat for one team at the position.
To put this production into perspective, only two tight end connections in the entire PFF era have cracked the top 15 all-time duos by EPA per play with 75 or more targets: Purdy-Kittle and Kitna-Witten. Every other duo on that elite list is a quarterback-wide receiver pairing, many built on smaller, more explosive samples rather than four years of sustained volume.
The numbers align with what has become the hallmark of the 49ers’ offense during the Purdy-Kittle era. With Tonges emerging as a legitimate second option, San Francisco now appears to possess one of the league’s most productive tight end rooms. While Kittle may not be fully himself at the outset of the 2026 season while he recovers from an Achilles injury, Tonges is well-positioned to step in effectively, much as he did this past year.
This analysis first appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers have one of the best QB-TE duos ever, per PFF.