Professor of tight ends, George Kittle, returned to his sixth Tight End University in Nashville, helping lead the annual three-day summit alongside co-founders Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen.
This year's event welcomed more than 90 tight ends from across the NFL, the largest attendance in TEU history. The offseason gathering combines film study and on-field instruction while giving players the opportunity to bond with their peers and learn from some of the best in the league before training camp begins.
The 49ers once again had a strong presence in Nashville. Kittle was joined by "honorary tight end" fullback Kyle Juszczyk while quarterbacks Brock Purdy and Mac Jones participated as throwers throughout the week.
Juszczyk taught a class at this year's TEU, highlighting the crossover between fullback and tight end responsibilities. Juszczyk focused on pre-snap alignment, using eye discipline to manipulate defenders, and covered blocking techniques that help create larger rushing lanes.
"I wanted to help them not feel like such a fish out of water," Juszczyk told Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area. "There's so much crossover now between what I do and what these tight ends are asked to do."
"While it's fun watching him learn from us, hearing how he talks about the offense from his point of view is really cool," Kittle added. "He's the best in the world that's ever done it, so it's good to hear it."
For Purdy, he checked off his first visit to TEU. The quarterback had the opportunity to throw to current players across the league and former tight end stars.
"It's been fun just seeing all the guys," Purdy said. "The present tight ends, but also the legends that have built up what it means to be a tight end. Being a quarterback and getting to throw to them, it's an honor."
Jones was present for his second consecutive year, and jokingly gave himself and the other quarterbacks the "TEUT" nickname as "Tight End University throwers."
Kittle also offered an early impression of 49ers rookie tight end Khalil Dinkins.
"He fits in the room really well," Kittle said. "I just want him to get to training camp healthy so he can show how good he is because he has qualities and characteristics that can be a really good football player."
With training camp just weeks away, the 49ers group returns from Nashville with another offseason under their belts sharpening their skills alongside the NFL's best and continuing a tradition Kittle helped build into one of the league's premier player development events.
