Arguably no playmaker has had to deal with as much quarterback tumult as George Kittle during his NFL career.

As the 49ers head into a 2023 season again holding Super Bowl aspirations, the star tight end only wants one thing at the game's most important position: health.

Kittle was asked on NFL Network's Inside Training Camp Live if he had a preference among all the quarterbacks he has caught passes from over the years.

The four-time Pro Bowler was pretty blunt in his response.

"My preference is as long as there's like one guy that's back there that's healthy. That'd be awesome. Just [to] get on the same page. It's crazy. So I'm going into year seven. My first year, I had three quarterbacks. My second year, I had three quarterbacks. My third year, I had one quarterback—2019, we go to the Super Bowl. 2020, I think I had 17 quarterbacks. 2021, we had three quarterbacks. And last year, we had four quarterbacks. So let's just get to one, guys. It would be fun, right? Just some consistency would be really fun.”

Kittle may be overstating his need to have a guy healthy to get on the same page. He has demonstrated an impressive ability to build a rapport with a range of different quarterbacks over his career.

But he knows all too well that quarterback health has played a huge role in the 49ers' failing to get over the top. The one year Jimmy Garoppolo was healthy the entire season, the Niners were minutes away from Super Bowl glory.

In 2021 Garoppolo was hamstrung by injury in the playoffs. Last year, having lost Trey Lance and Garoppolo to injury, Brock Purdy's torn elbow ligament ended their hopes of victory in the NFC Championship Game in Philadelphia with the Super Bowl in touching distance.

Kittle's frustration at those series of misfortunes is understandable and, while the 49ers have insulated themselves against more injuries at the position by bringing in Sam Darnold to compete for the backup job behind Purdy with Lance, the last thing he wants or needs is more enforced changes under center.

Thankfully, to this point Purdy's recovery from elbow surgery has gone to plan, with San Francisco's QB1 receiving increasingly warm praise as he readies himself to start for the 49ers in Week 1 against the Steelers. 

Kittle demonstrated a tremendous understanding with Purdy last year, catching seven of the 13 regular-season touchdowns thrown by the final pick in the 2022 draft. With their connection well-established and Purdy showing no ill-effects from his offseason procedure, Kittle's rapport with his young quarterback could be pivotal in San Francisco finally going all the way.

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