The Washington Commanders’ Week 5 tie sparked controversy and raised questions about the team and where it is headed. This was supposed to be Jayden Daniels’ bounce-back season, but it hasn’t panned out as the organization expected. The tie against the New York Giants
sums up how things have gone for the Commanders, and it won't get easier when they head to the West Coast in Week 6 to face the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.Every week, we discuss one player from the opposing team that we’d want to steal for the week. This week, it was really tempting to suggest the Commanders would want Trent Williams back on their side, but his history with the team is just too much to overcome. So, we changed gears. Instead, we decided that the Commanders would actually
love to steal 49ers tight end George Kittle.
Let us be clear: this is not a dig at Chig Okonkwo or any of the current tight ends on the roster. However, having a guy like Kittle on your side is never a bad thing. He’s a two-time first-team All-Pro selection, a three-time second-team All-Pro selection, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection; he led the league in yards after the catch in 2018, and for the last eight seasons, he’s been ranked 50 or higher on the NFL’s top 100 players list. You can’t turn a blind eye to that.
Not only does Kittle have four 1,000-yard receiving seasons, but he is consistently among the top blocking tight ends in the league. Kittle is the type of superstar that the Commanders desperately need.
Last week against the Giants, Daniels moved the ball well early in the game by targeting Okonkwo. For whatever reason, though, they moved away from that. In 2024, Zach Ertz had one of the best seasons of his career with Daniels as his quarterback. Put those two things together, and it becomes clear that Daniels leans on his tight ends quite often and is successful when doing so.
Now, put that thought into Kittle being the tight end and imagine what kind of production this offense could have. The Commanders can’t actually steal Kittle, but it definitely seems like the Daniels-to-Kittle connection could be quite dangerous. And if David Blough sees this, it may give him reason to call more plays for Okonkwo, who has already proven he can be a reliable target for Daniels this season.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Gimme Him: One player the Commanders would steal from the 49ers
