Jake Tonges

0 career receptions through 2024 — then 34 catches and 5 TDs in one regular season.

Tonges went undrafted out of California in 2022, spent his rookie year on Chicago's active roster with a single Week 3 target and zero catches, then bounced through the 49ers system in 2023–24 with zero targets and zero receptions.

Then George Kittle missed time in 2025, and Tonges responded with 34 receptions for 293 yards and 5 TDs across 10 regular-season weeks — his entire career production materialized in one season.

Why it matters. The sheer gap between years of nothing and a productive season signals Tonges wasn't a late bloomer — he was an undiscovered player who finally got a window. The 49ers rarely hand targets to non-Kittle TEs; that this happened at all is the story.

In 2025, 3 of his 5 regular-season TDs came in the first 5 weeks — then he added a season-capper in Week 17.

Tonges scored in Weeks 1, 4, 5, 8, and 17 — spread across the regular season rather than front-loaded or stacked in a single hot stretch. His Week 5 performance vs the Rams (7 catches, 41 yards, 1 TD) came on 11 targets — a workload that signals genuine trust from Shanahan on a week they needed Tonges badly. The Week 17 closer vs Chicago (7 catches, 60 yards, 1 TD) against his former team matched his season-high in receptions.

Why it matters. TD distribution across the season — not a single hot streak — shows Tonges was a consistent red-zone weapon throughout, not a garbage-time opportunist who happened into a few scores.

0 catches through his first 3 seasons — then the 6th-most receptions on SF in 2025.

Tonges entered 2025 with zero career receptions across 2022 and 2024 appearances. By end of the regular season he had 34 catches — enough to rank 6th on the 49ers among all receivers, ahead of Kyle Juszczyk and Demarcus Robinson.

For a team that runs one of the most TE-specific offenses in the league around Kittle, Tonges squeezed meaningful production out of a secondary role — and his 5 TDs are the highest on the team among players outside the top 3 receivers.

Why it matters. Going from an undrafted practice-squad player with no production to the 6th-most targeted pass-catcher on a Super Bowl contender in one season is a legitimately rare career trajectory.

Season-high 7 catches and 60 yards in Week 17 — against the franchise that cut him.

In Week 17 2025, Tonges posted 7 catches for 60 yards and a TD against the Chicago Bears — his joint-best reception game of the season (tied with Week 5 vs LAR), but his outright best yardage total.

Chicago was the team that originally signed Tonges as an undrafted rookie in 2022, then released him with 0 career catches. Three years later he authored his best regular-season performance against them. His three games with 6+ catches produced 3 of his 5 regular-season TDs — Shanahan's offense rewards volume TEs when they're open.

Why it matters. The revenge-game narrative is real and verifiable: the best yardage total of Tonges' career came against the team that discarded him. It also illustrates that his peak usage weeks consistently produced scoring.

5th-highest TD-per-catch rate among TEs with 20+ receptions in 2025 — at 14.7%.

Among the 52 TEs with at least 20 receptions in 2025, Tonges's 14.7% TD-per-catch rate (5 TDs on 34 catches) ranked 5th — ahead of George Kittle (12.3%) and every other high-volume tight end on the list.

For a backup TE who entered the season with zero career catches, landing in the top 5 of this efficiency metric shows Shanahan's offense deployed him almost exclusively in high-leverage situations when he was on the field.

Why it matters. TD rate is a proxy for red-zone role. A TE2 with a TD-per-catch rate ahead of Kittle, Brock Bowers, and Travis Kelce isn't getting lucky — he's being used as a scoring weapon, not a chain-mover.