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Would Falcons Star Kyle Pitts Go No. 1 Overall In 2022 NFL Draft?

The Falcons' top pick from last year would likely have been out of reach for them this year.

With the 2022 NFL Draft rapidly approaching, there's a lot of uncertainty as to who will be taken with the top picks.

Kyle Pitts vs Buffalo
Kyle Pitts
Kyle Pitts Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

This time a year ago, the Atlanta Falcons were zeroing in on Florida tight end Kyle Pitts, and there wasn't a whole lot of debate.

The other option for the Falcons would have been to take a quarterback, particularly Justin Fields, and that would have made NFL history as the first draft to have quarterbacks drafted 1-4.

However, Pitts was the pick, highlighting an extremely talented top 5 with enormously high ceilings.

Pitts entered the draft early with two years of college eligibility remaining, his senior year and a COVID opt-out year. There would have been a chance that Pitts could have stayed in the Sunshine State with the No. 1 overall pick had he stayed in school for one more season.

The Jacksonville Jaguars would have been on the clock, and their history of drafting in-state talent (Dante Fowler Jr., Jalen Ramsey, C.J. Henderson) would have suggested that Pitts would have been a potential option at the No. 1 pick to give quarterback Trevor Lawrence a true top target.

Dante Fowler Falcons at Bills
trevor atl jag
Kyle Pitts in London vs. Jets

Pitts also has a ceiling that's higher than most of the people that are at the top of this year's draft. For the 2022 class, the talent is seen in the later rounds, with very few players tabbed as a "generational" talent like Pitts was a year ago.

The Jags could still go in a number of different directions as they kick off the draft for a second year in a row, but if Pitts were available, their decision could have been a little bit easier.