George Kittle raves about rookie defender once again

The San Francisco 49ers pulled off a 26-8 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, improving to 9-4 and getting within a half-game of the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West.

It was a quality win for the 49ers, who faced a feisty Browns defense led by star pass rusher Myles Garrett. As a result, it wasn’t the cleanest offensive performance, but quarterback Brock Purdy led the way, and the defense made several big stops leading to scores.

After the game, San Francisco 49ers star George Kittle took to the podium to heap praise on one rookie for the second time in recent weeks: defensive tackle Alfred Collins.

“I cannot get over Alfred Collins,” Kittle said, via ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “I just think he’s such a good player, and you just see his effort out there. If you guys watch the all-22, I just think he’s making so many plays and so much effort and so much hustle, and I’m just so proud of him.”

Kittle did the same thing unprompted after San Francisco’s win over the Arizona Cardinals two weeks ago, lauding the defensive tackle’s effort.

“I can’t get over Alfred Collins and his effort on every single play,” Kittle said after the 49ers 41-22 win. “It’s one of the things that stands out to me the most, but Alfred Collins and just his effort on every single play.

“I’m used to watching [Nick] Bosa and Fred Warner. That’s who I usually watch, but now I just watch the D-Line, and I’ve just got to pick and choose. But Alfred has just stood out to me. Just his constant effort of no matter where the ball is, he just chases it down, and I really appreciate that from a young player.”

Collins doesn’t stuff the stat sheet necessarily. He has 10 tackles, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and four quarterback hits this season.

But, that effort of his in the middle of the defensive line has been present, and veteran players are taking notice. Collins is doing what he’s drafted to do: be a gap-plugger in the middle and take on double teams to stop the run.

The 49ers still have to get better at run-stopping as a whole after struggling in that department a bit on Sunday, but this season was also about development for younger players like Collins.

It’s been an interesting start to his career for Collins, who dealt with a calf injury that cost him a big part of the offseason. That raised some questions, but the defensive tackle was able to participate in training camp, which is where he started to impress the coaching staff.

Now, he’s grown into a regular contributor for the 49ers, despite not technically “starting” a game this year. After getting up to speed over the first four games, Collins has played over 50 percent of the snaps in six of his eight games, while playing over 45 percent in the other two.

San Francisco is in a prime position for a playoff push, and they’ll need the development for younger players to continue over the last five weeks of the year. But, it’s good to see Collins getting some flowers for his effort.