Niners need to live up to reputations

Coming into this season, Kittle was ranked the 50th best player in NFL, a significant slide from 2020, when he ranked seventh. But a lack of production in 2020 saw him plummet in the rankings this season.

Some may say that lack of production had to do with the fact he missed half the 2020 season. True. But there is more to the story, as far as I’m concerned and it has to do with the mislabeling of Shanahan as a genius. Because if he truly was an offensive wizard, he would figure out a way to get Kittle way more involved in the 49ers’ offense. Through two games this season, Kittle has eight catches for 95 yards and in his five-year NFL career, he has a total of 14 touchdowns.

Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, who is leaps and bounds more effective than Kittle, has 13 catches for 185 yards and three scores already in 2021. In his ninth season with KC, Kelce has more than three times as many touchdowns — 51.

“But Kittle is a great blocker,” is the usual response, to which I would say, then he is underpaid. You know who else is a good blocker? 49ers left tackle Trent Williams, who just signed a contract for six years for nearly $140 million. Kittle signed a five-year, $75 million deal. He’s getting roughly half of what Williams gets paid for essentially the same job.

Of course I’m being a little facetious, but I simply don’t understand why Shanahan does not target Kittle any more than he does. Some critics say it’s because Shanahan doesn’t trust quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, so he keeps the offense super conservative.

But if he doesn’t trust Garoppolo, who will he trust? Obviously he doesn’t trust rookie quarterback Trey Lance, and I don’t blame him. Despite being the No. 3 pick in the draft, he played only 19 college games at the Division IAA (Football Championship Subdivision) level. Shanahan obviously doesn’t trust the offensive line, either, because why would you keep Kittle in to block three out of every four plays?

In the end, the 49ers are 2-0 on the season, winning ugly both times. No one says they have to be pretty and in pro sports, the win-loss record is the only thing that matters. But wouldn’t it make life for the 49ers much easier if their star tight end and young, dynamic coach started living up to their reputations?

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I have a couple of updates on a pair of big men who played basketball on the Peninsula.

Rico Nuño, a 2014 graduate of Half Moon Bay who helped the Cougars to back-to-back Central Coast Section Division IV championship games, signed a professional contract last month with Soles de Mexicali of the Mexico basketball league.

It was a long and winding road for the 6-8, 255-pound Nuño. After graduating Half Moon Bay, he spent one season at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill before transferring to Eastern Washington. From there, he went to St. Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington before finishing his college career in 2018 at Thompson River University in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.

Meanwhile, Jack Wilson, a 6-11 center who graduated Serra in 2018, started his college basketball career at Oregon State before transferring to Idaho.

Wilson is currently a redshirt junior at Washington State — as an offensive lineman for the Cougars football team.

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Have to start paying closer attention to the football schedules. Because of a dearth of football officials, a number of games every week around the Bay Area and Northern California are being played on Thursday.

This week, San Mateo hosts Oakland at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117. To report scores or have tips, email sports@smdailyjournal.com