San Francisco 49ers fans seem to think George Kittle will get back on the field before Mykel Williams, and the logic starts with the injury situation around both players.
Kittle is still working his way back from January surgery that repaired a torn right Achilles tendon. Right now, he’s on the Active/PUP List, and if that designation carries into the regular season, it would keep him out for the first four games.
That puts the 49ers in a tricky spot. There’s uncertainty about whether Kittle will be ready for Week 1, and the team doesn’t appear eager to force the issue with one of its most important players. The expectation here is that San Francisco won’t rush him and could start him on the PUP list, which would mean a return in October.
Williams is dealing with a similar question. He’s also a candidate to open the season on the PUP list, and John Lynch didn’t sound especially confident that Williams would be ready by Week 1, even with the second-year pro pushing to get there.
Based on the weekly FanDuel Sportsbook survey, 49ers fans believe Kittle will return before Williams.
And if that’s how it plays out, the next question becomes how long the team has to wait for Williams. He’s viewed as a central piece of this defense, the kind of player who could change the shape of the pass rush and raise the run defense’s baseline if he takes the expected second-year leap and stays healthy. That’s a big if, and the source material makes clear that’s no small assumption.
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