SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In an offseason that saw Jason Witten retire to the Monday Night Football broadcast booth while Antonio Gates awaits a team to sign him and Rob Gronkowski flirts with ending his NFL career, it’s safe to say the tight end position in the NFL is in a state of transition.

With those superstars moving on or close to it, there are a number of vacancies at the head of the class alongside the likes of Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz. While there’s no shortage of options to fill the void, one candidate wouldn’t immediately come to mind when looking at the next wave of tight ends, at least not for those outside of the Bay Area.

But in San Francisco, second-year 49ers tight end George Kittle has quietly emerged as one of the league’s most intriguing tight end prospects. And he’s not shying away from the opportunity to establish himself as one of the best at his position.

“Obviously I want to be the best as a tight end,” said Kittle. “I get on the field, I feel like it’s an opportunity to show that I can play football and I’m good at my job and I deserve to keep my job. … There’s comparisons everywhere, but if I can go out and show that I’m the best me, and I can ball and prove to myself that I can play really well and prove to Coach [Kyle] Shanahan and my tight end coach that I’m playing well and I’m the best one and they need me, then I’m satisfied.”

Kittle has lofty goals, especially for a fifth-round pick who entered the league with little hype just more than a year ago. Kittle’s high expectations aren’t exclusive to him. In fact, the 49ers have been high on him since they chose him with the 146th overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft.

During his career at Iowa, Kittle never finished with more than 22 catches per season for the run-heavy Hawkeyes. He had just 48 receptions for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns in four years. Iowa’s commitment to the running game, however, helped Kittle establish himself as a stout blocker, but blocking tight ends don’t usually get drafted very high.

Still, Kittle had a strong showing at the NFL scouting combine, where he ran the third-fastest 40-yard dash among tight ends (4.52 seconds) and had the third-best long jump (11 feet).

In Kittle, Shanahan saw the ideal fit for his offense — a tight end capable of in-line blocking and lining up in a variety of places. Among the many rookies the 49ers brought in last season, none had a bigger workload than Kittle, who was taking starting reps from the moment he arrived.

Kittle never flinched, despite playing through a high ankle sprain, as well as calf, hip, chest, elbow, back and hamstring ailments.

“It’s rare that you have a guy who is built to block very well who also runs in the 4.5s and who is quick enough to separate,” Shanahan said.

This offseason, Kittle made his health his top priority. He spent the winter training in Nashville with teammates C.J. Beathard and Trent Taylor. He also kept regular appointments with a massage therapist, an acupuncture specialist, a chiropractor and anyone else he believed could help him get back to full strength.

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In that same vein, Kittle is also working to develop a deeper understanding of Shanahan’s system and working with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to develop chemistry. A year ago, Kittle said he “couldn’t tell the playbook from his thumb.” That has changed dramatically. Kittle says he’s far enough along now that he and Garoppolo discuss minor tweaks, such as which shoulder to turn when looking for the ball or altering a step on a route.

It’s safe to say Real Madrid got its money’s worth when Cristiano Ronaldo was acquired for a former world-record transfer fee back in 2009.

The Portuguese superstar, whose illustrious career in the Spanish capital ended Tuesday with confirmation of his lucrative transfer to Juventus, boosted the reputation he established in England with Manchester United by raising his standard to levels that few will ever come close to eclipsing at Real Madrid.

In under a decade, Ronaldo solidified his place as one of the greatest players to ever put on the famous all-white strip.

Toward the end of his Madrid career, Ronaldo’s goalscoring feats often resulted in the club’s revered scoring records falling, as greats such as Alfredo Di Stefano, Raul, Ferenc Puskas, Carlos Santillana, and Hugo Sanchez made way for another legend who will be remembered fondly for decades to come.

Here are seven of Ronaldo’s records that won’t be broken anytime soon:

Most goals, overall: Ronaldo didn’t just break the team’s all-time scoring record, he shattered it. What Raul accomplished in 16 years at Real Madrid, Ronaldo surpassed in just over five full seasons when he scored his 324th goal in October 2015 to break the legendary’s Spanish striker’s club record. By the end of the 2017-18 campaign, Ronaldo tallied an astounding 451 goals across all competitions.

Most goals scored in one season (all competitions): Despite Real Madrid’s lack of silverware, the 2014-15 campaign was one to remember, at least for Ronaldo. He scored a hat-trick on the final day of the season in a 7-3 win over Getafe to bring his total to 61 goals and best his mark from the 2011-12 season by one tally, ending the campaign with a scoring rate of approximately 1.13 goals per game

Most goals in one La Liga season: Ronaldo wrapped up the 2014-15 La Liga campaign in style by scoring three hat-tricks over the final four matches to finish with 48 goals. The total topped his previous record of 46 set one season prior.

Most Champions League goals: The drop-off on Real Madrid’s all-time Champions League goalscoring list is massive. Ronaldo’s penalty conversion against, of all teams, Juventus in the quarter-finals last season brought him to 105 overall in a Real shirt to put him 39 goals clear of Raul’s former record. Karim Benzema is the closest active player with 44 goals.

Most goals scored in one Champions League season: Ronaldo not only holds the record for goals scored in a single Champions League season, he occupies the top three spots. He came close to matching his record this past season with 15 goals, but the 17 he scored in 2013-14 will likely never be matched by another Madridista.

Most goals scored in one Champions League group stage: Ronaldo banged in four goals against Malmo in 2015 to set the mark for goals in the Champions League group stage. He became the first player to reach double figures before ending the opening phase of the tournament, with 11 goals in six matches.

Most career La Liga hat-tricks: It’s no secret that Ronaldo has a tendency to score in bunches. The evidence lies in his club record for domestic hat-tricks, as Ronaldo’s 34 games with at least three goals are 12 more than Di Stefano managed to record during his storied career.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s one thing to have a great nickname. It’s another to give great nicknames.

So when ESPN.com asked NFL Nation reporters to come up with the best nickname on the team they cover, it was a slam dunk that the honor for the Carolina Panthers went to quarterback Cam Newton, the self-proclaimed “Sensei of Nicknames.”

Newton made his title known partly out of necessity in 2014 when apologizing for referring to then-Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh as “Donkey Kong Suh.”

“If anything, I was trying to say it as a compliment of him for wreaking havoc,” Newton said at the time. “Me going forward, I should have called him ‘Wreck-it Ralph.'”

It was during this apology that Newton said, “I just call myself the ‘Sensei of Nicknames.'”

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He then rattled off a dozen or more from that Carolina team. Then-fullback Mike Tolbert had more nicknames — Tub of Goo, Tub of Mayonnaise, Plate of Paste, Chunky Soup, Toldozer, Fat Boy, Bowling Ball — than anybody because of his 5-foot-9, 250-pound physique.

Tolbert wasn’t offended. Carolina players just roll with whatever nickname Newton gives them.

“Cam’s weird. A good weird, though,” defensive end Mario Addison said. “He’s given me so many nicknames, I don’t know which one he really calls me by. He’ll say Rio, Super Mario — everything. Cam, man, I guess it’s what he’s feeling like that day which one you’re going to get.”

Newton gave himself the nickname “Ace Boogie” when he initially came into the league. He also considers himself the “Sensei of Swag,” for obvious reasons, if you’ve seen his sometimes out-there wardrobe.

Center Ryan Kalil said the nicknames show “what an incredible mind he has.

“I couldn’t come up with half the things he comes up with,” Kalil said. “A lot of them are more clever than people realize. There are a lot of them that are inside jokes that can’t leave the locker room that are really funny.

“He’s sharp that way. His mind goes 100 miles an hour.”

Not all nicknames are public knowledge. Kalil’s is one of them.

“He says it a lot to me,” Kalil said. “But it’s a quarterback-center bond thing. I can’t break that trust and tell you what it is.”

Garrett Gilbert, the front-runner to be Newton’s backup, is amazed by the depth of some of Newton’s nicknames.

“Depth is a good word,” he said. “They are extremely creative. Sometimes they take a while to craft. Sometimes it hits him the first day when a player comes on the field. But they are definitely, without a doubt, very creative.”

Gilbert’s nickname is a prime example, although Newton gets an assist from wide receiver Brenton Bersin on this one. Gilbert is called Glanch, after Matt Blanchard, who was on the Carolina practice squad in 2013-14.

“Cam heard it and took off with it,” Gilbert said.

Most of the nicknames Newton comes up with on his own. Some are obvious. Some not so much.

He dubbed former defensive coordinator Steve Wilks “Denzel” because the now-Arizona Cardinals coach reminded him of the actor Denzel Washington. He called former Carolina wide receiver Willie Snead (now with the Ravens) “Honeycomb” because of the blond-dyed tips to his hair that reminded him of the cereal.

Cam’s best creations

Many new nicknames are sure to come from the current roster during training camp, which begins on July 26. Here are some that are already out there:

Bud Light (WR Damiere Byrd): The Panthers had two players named Byrd on the roster in 2016, so Newton labeled Damiere “Bud Light” because he’s 5-foot-9 as opposed to the 6-4 LaRon Byrd.

KK (DT Kawann Short): Not so much a Newton original since everyone calls Short this.