Could Kyle Pitts Sr. Just Now Be Entering His Prime for the Falcons?

FLOWERY BRANCH – Kyle Pitts Sr. was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week after his outstanding performance for the Atlanta Falcons against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night. The tight end notched 166 yards receiving and three touchdowns on 11 catches, all career-highs.

This is the first of any sort of honor that the tight end has garnered in his time in Atlanta, but it begs the question of what it could mean for his future in Atlanta.

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Pitts, operating as the Falcons’ No. 1 receiving option due to the Drake London injury, was able to record the first 100-yard receiving game since his rookie season and just his second-career multi-touchdown game.

“He was able to go out there and get the plays called to him. He made some early, and when you make those plays early, you show that kind of confidence – you keep going back to him,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said Monday. “You get hot, so to speak. It was like when you go out, and sometimes you light it up on the basketball court, and you keep shooting. That's kind of what he did the other night. You know, he just kept shooting.”

Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said that they knew it would be a “premier game’ for Pitts due to some of the matchups with the Buccaneers, but that the tight end took full advantage.

After his breakout night, the tight end is now on pace to finish with 968 yards, the most since his rookie season (1,026). Pitts now only trails Trey McBride among tight ends this season in terms of yards (1,071), but nearly half of his production has come over the Falcons’ last four games (363 yards) in the absence of London.

Pitts, who is still only 25, has continued to develop as a professional player this season. He is finishing his fifth season in the league, but is just one year older than Travis Kelce was when he recorded his first career NFL reception.

He began his career with massive expectations due to his premier draft stock, and many expected him to come into the NFL ready to set the league on fire. Pitts’ rookie season appeared to do just that, but a knee injury derailed his second season, and he has largely failed to live up to that in the years since.

But there is still a reality in which the ‘Unicorn,’ like Kelce did after his age 25 season, is only just beginning to tap into his NFL potential.

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“Kyle's a very young player,” Robinson said. “He's done a great job in the classroom, with [tight ends coach Kevin] Koger, in all the finer details and just playing football and just understanding what defensive structures look like and the different defenses that present.”

The former No. 4 pick is entering the final year of his rookie contract, but his future with the Falcons remains in doubt. Thursday’s game was a reminder of what he is capable of doing in any given week, and there is a reasonable thought that he still has not entered his professional ‘prime’ at this point in his career.

With London potentially coming back this Sunday for the Falcons’ trip to face the Arizona Cardinals, it will be interesting to see how his production evolves and what that could mean for his future with the Falcons.