With three games to go in the 2021 NFL season, Falcons rookie tight end Kyle Pitts, he is close to breaking a long-standing record that goes back before the Super Bowl era.
In 1961, Bears rookie tight end Mike Ditka had 1,076 receiving yards in 14 games. No tight end has come within 100 yards of the record, but Pitts has a real chance to break it.
Pitts is 229 yards short of tying the rookie record, which puts him fifth all-time in receiving yards by a rookie tight end. Something to note, he only has one touchdown catch compared to Ditka’s 12 during his rookie season. A second thing to note, the record in 1961 happened in a 14-game season. So if Pitts breaks the record, he did it in a 17 game season.
Whether Pitts breaks the record or not, Ditka will still remain the only rookie tight end in NFL history to break 1,000 receiving yards in a 14-game season. Considering how the NFL was a run-heavy league back in 1961 makes Ditka’s record even more impressive.
Ditka had 12 of the Bears’ 26 receiving touchdowns in 1961. He also had 1,076 of their 3,011 receiving yards. Pitts has just one of the Falcons’ 18 receiving touchdowns, along with 847 of their 3,359 receiving yards.
So, if Pitts does break Ditka’s record from 60 years ago, it will have taken him more games with less offensive production. Pitts averages 60.5 receiving yards per game, which puts him on pace for another 181 receiving yards this season. That would still be 49 yards shy of breaking the record.
In the 1961 NFL season, Ditka averaged 76.9 yards per game. If he played a 17-game season, he would have averaged around 1,307 yards, which would have been sixth all-time, but the NFL record until 2011 when Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham both had over 1,307 receiving yards.
Someday Ditka’s record will be broken. But it still won’t be as impressive, considering how today’s NFL is very pass-heavy, compared to the run-heavy era he played in.
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