Daniel Jeremiah Makes Strong Case for Eagles to Draft Kyle Pitts at No. 6

Kyle Pitts is listed as a tight end.

In the case of the University of Florida standout, it’s just a title, not a job description, and if he is there when the Eagles are on the clock with the sixth overall pick on the first night of the 2021 NFL Draft on April 29, then he should very much be in the conversation to be taken.

Pitts is 6-5, 240 pounds, with a 40-yard dash time that is expected to be around 4.5, 4.6 when he will likely be tested at Florida’s pro day on March 31.

Last year, he had 43 catches for 770 yards and 12 touchdowns under the tutelage of Gators offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, who is now the Eagles’ quarterback coach.

Pitts won the Mackey Award, the CFPA Tight End Trophy, was a Biletnikoff finalist, a top 10 Heisman finalist, and a unanimous first-team All-American.

“I think you could make a strong case, he’s the best player in the draft,” said NFL draft expert Daniel Jeremiah during a two-hour or so Tuesday afternoon zoom call. “I have him as the third-best player right now.”

Jeremiah said he just got done watching tape of cornerbacks available in the draft and Pitts ate them alive.

“I’m watching these corners with first, second, third round draft grades in the SEC and they can’t cover the guy,” he said. “To me, it’s a matchup that’s going to be in your favor every time you line up.

"The defense can’t be right against him no matter what you do. You put big guys out there, he’s going to run away from them, you put small guys out there, he’s just going to pluck the ball off their heads. That to me is what makes him special.”

Jeremiah has the Eagles taking Pitts at No. 6 in his most recent mock draft.

“If you’re the Eagles and you’re looking at one of the top receivers versus Kyle Pitts, and I know obviously (Dallas) Goedert is one of the best tight ends in the NFL, but to me, I would love to break the huddle with those two guys and force teams to try to figure out how to match up with them,” said Jeremiah, who once worked in the Eagles’ front office.

Jeremiah didn’t exactly give Pitts a glowing recommendation as a blocker, but he wouldn’t use him in line very much if at all. He would flex him out wide like the Dolphins do with their tight, Mike Gesicki.

“If you wanted to just primarily use him as an X receiver, no problem,” said Jeremiah. “He can do that right now and be really good at it. I’d have to look it up, like (Mike) Gesicki with the Dolphins, he still has TE next to his name. I don’t know how many times he was attached last year but you might be able to count them on two hands. He was always detached.

“To me, I would be trying to use this kid that way, just flex him out and use him. Some games you want to split him out, some games you want to use him in the slot, you can get him in line, if you get them to go small, that’s what is so great about him, if you get them to go small, he can hold his own and shield guys off as a run blocker, but I’d much rather be throwing him the ball.

“I’ll put it this way, Kye Pitts will be much more popular in the quarterback room than he will be in the running back room.”

As a blocker, Jeremiah added: “When you watched him 2019, I thought he was willing, but I thought he was really flimsy and just got thrown around as you could imagine, a tall, lean guy he really struggled. I thought he was much better this year to the point where I thought he was functional. He’s not a killer. He’s not going to put anybody in the hospital as a blocker, but he’s functional. He can wall guys off and you can use him there.”

Jeremiah compared Pitts to Kansas City's Travis Kelce, saying "You watch Kelce and you see Kelce run those pivot routes where he’s so efficient and doesn’t waste any steps, you see the same thing with Pitts and he has a bigger catch radius to go up over the top of people to make plays."

Another plus to drafting Pitts over a wide receiver that could be there at No. 6, such as Ja’Marr Chase or the Alabama duo of Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith, is financial.

“The point that was made to me from someone in the league is the interesting thing is you look at receivers and tight ends, look at the franchise number and look at the difference in money,” he said.

“I think there’s a difference of like $6 million, so not only do you have a rare mismatch player that’s hard to find, once you get to the second contract, he’s going to be extremely affordable compared to if you were going to take a receiver with that same pick. So, you’re getting the same level of impact without having to pay that same level of cost. To me, I think that could be something that could be a tiebreaker when you’re making that decision.”

If the Eagles take Pitts it would mean returning to the area where he grew up in the nearby suburb of Abington, spending two years at Abington High School then transferring to Archbishop Wood Catholic School in Warminster.

That is not a concern, Jeremiah said.

“The times you worry about guys coming back home is if they have any type of character concerns if they’ve had trouble,” he said, “and by all accounts, everything I got on Kyle Pitts, is he’s outstanding from a makeup character standpoint, so that wouldn’t be concerning at all to me.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.