Vernon Davis Reveals How the Tight End Position Has Evolved in the NFL

San Francisco 49ers legend Vernon Davis feels that the tight end position he played in his professional career is changing, and he’s explaining how.

In a recent interview with LA Sports Report’s Noah Camras, Davis discussed the tight end position, acknowledging that things had changed since he began playing professionally in the early 2000s.

“The tight end position has definitely evolved to a point where they’re doing a lot of the same things they did with me when I was playing,” the former first-team All-American said, “but the thing is, the mismatches, these teams are doing a great job of getting these tight ends in space where there’s no one around.”

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Davis continued, using current 49ers tight end George Kittle as an example. He said, “If you watch George Kittle, when he catches the ball, it’s like, ‘Gosh, how did he get that open? He’s like wide open.’ But the plays are designed that way and I think they’re exploring and they’re doing a terrific job with that.”

George Kittle is regarded as one of the top tight ends in the league since being drafted in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft and set a single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end in 2018. Davis was a sixth overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft and was selected to the Pro Bowl twice, in 2009 and 2013.

During his 14-year career, he recorded over 5,700 receiving yards and 63 touchdown receptions, making him one of the most productive tight ends in NFL history.

As such, that makes him a pretty good person to comment on the position’s current status in the game. Davis told LA Sports Report, “[tight ends are] being utilized in a way where they get the ball in space where they can make something happen after the fact. And that’s what we’re seeing.”

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Davis also recently revealed his all-time Mount Rushmore of NFL tight ends, telling Camras that he particularly venerated “Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Shannon Sharpe, Rob Gronkowski.” However, any conversation of professional greats has to include Davis himself, who has recorded more touchdown receptions by a tight end than any other player in 49ers history and was a key element in the team’s victory in Super Bowl 50.

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