'Comfortable' Falcons TE MyCole Pruitt 'Ready' for Big Role in Kyle Pitts-Less Offense
The Atlanta Falcons have a Kyle Pitts-sized hole to fill at tight end, and eighth-year veteran MyCole Pruitt is first up in line.
It's far from a seamless fit; after all, while the two share the same weight, Pitts is 6-6 to Pruitt's 6-2. On a real and metaphorical note, Pruitt comes up just a bit short of Pitts - but he's unconcerned about it ... as he should.
Pitts was the highest drafted tight end in league history and had the second most receiving yards among rookie tight ends ever. Even with a statistically down second season, he's formed into one of the most well-rounded players at the position.
Pruitt recognizes Pitts' value to the Falcons and how special of a player he is; it's part of why he's unconcerned about trying to "replace" Pitts. It's a multi-man job, the former Southern Illinois Saluki said.
But among those multi-men, Pruitt is the top option. He drew the start in light of Pitts' absence during last Sunday's loss to the Washington Commanders, one week after seeing much of the work after Pitts departed prematurely with his now-season-ending injury.
Against Washington, Pruitt saw a season-high three targets, bringing down two of them for nine yards, including a four-yard touchdown receptipns from quarterback Marcus Mariota.
On the surface, it was a short, fairly easy pitch and catch between Mariota and Pruitt - but the trust that they've built up with each other is evident. It's occurred thanks in large part to their experience together with the Tennessee Titans, where Mariota threw passes to Pruitt in 2018 and 2019.
Now reunited again, the duo has been put to the test of trying to guide Atlanta back to the playoffs for the first time since 2017 - and relying on the "very, very important" chemistry they have to do so.
"The chemistry that we built over time in Tennessee has helped us kick it off pretty seamlessly to start right away," Mariota said. "(Pruitt) does a great job; he does a lot of the dirty work and then does a great job in the passing game of creating explosive plays."
Pruitt's longest gain of the season came two weeks ago versus the Chicago Bears in relief of Pitts, as he had a 17-yard catch-and-run. He's now strung together four consecutive games with at least one reception, which is a particularly noteworthy mark considering he bounced around between the practice squad and being inactive on gamedays for much of the first eight weeks.
It's a difficult task to go from not even playing to suddenly being forced to try to help fill the void left by a Pro Bowler in Pitts. But by all accounts, Pruitt's done his job - and Mariota's glad to see it happening.
"Credit goes to him," Mariota began. "It's tough - you go through 10, 11 weeks, you're not really filling that role, and then all of a sudden, things happen, and now you're kind of thrust into that role. But he's done a great job and we're very thankful he's here."
Pruitt largely feels the same way, adding his time and connection with Mariota has gone "pretty well" while sharing that he's "comfortable" with the former Heisman Trophy winner.
"Comfortable" is a key element for Pruitt, as he finds himself in a key role in coach Arthur Smith's offense after being on the shelf for much of the season's first half. Fortunately for Pruitt, he has equally extensive history with Smith as he does Mariota, as Smith was his positions coach in Tennessee during the 2018 season and served as his offensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020.
It's the element of familiarity - or comfortably - that has helped Pruitt get up to speed early and could be a big reason why he's an important factor in Atlanta's offense moving forward.
"Just comfortable with the system, comfortable with Arthur," Pruitt said. "I've been in the very same room with him every day at one point. There's definitely a comfort level, and we're building off that being here."
Pruitt will look to continue building Sunday when the Falcons host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. As games begin to build in importance for Atlanta, Pruitt's impact as both a receiver and blocker has a chance to help the Falcons overcome that 6-6, 245-pound gap left by Pitts ... and he feels up for it.
"Whenever my number is called," Pruitt began, "I'm ready to make that play."
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft
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