Top Tight Ends: Where Does Falcons Rookie Kyle Pitts Rank?
The Atlanta Falcons are coming off of a bye week, and Kyle Pitts is coming off his best game of the year in a win over the New York Jets two weeks ago.
Pitts had nine catches for 119 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets vs. the Jets. Pitts was counted on in that game by quarterback Matt Ryan and the Atlanta attack with receivers Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage both out vs. New York. He didn't disappoint.
Ridley and Gage are due back in action on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, but Pitt's place as a primary weapon should be solidified.
He has 24 catches for 308 yards and touchdown on the season, and his work is getting him recognized as one of the best tight ends in football. Nick Shook of NFL.com has Pitts ranked seventh on his tight end rankings.
He writes of Pitts:
The No. 4 overall pick may have a been a bit overshadowed by Cordarrelle Patterson fever, but in the Falcons' heartbreaking loss to Washington in Week 4, they targeted him a then-season-high nine times for four completions and 50 yards. His first true breakout performance came a week later, when the Falcons went to Pitts 10 times for nine receptions, 119 yards and his first career touchdown in a win over the Jets in London.
Pitts was drafted so high in part because he stands as the model of what the tight end might look like in the future, and the numbers back it up: Pitts leads tight ends in receiving yards when aligned wide with 114. He became a focal point in Calvin Ridley's absence in that Week 5 game, and he should remain one for the rest of the season if the Falcons hope to reverse their slow start to 2021. - Nick Shook
Pitts and the Falcons head to Miami to take on the Dolphins on Sunday. Pitts will get a chance to outshine Miami tight end Mike Gesicki who checked in on Shook's list.
Pitts turned 21 on October 6 and has a long career ahead of him. He's already climbing national lists like Shooks', and seventh might be as low as we see him for a long, long time.
