Tag: kyle pitts atlanta falcons

Fantasy football: Where to draft Atlanta Falcons TE Kyle Pitts

Analyzing Atlanta Falcons TE Kyle Pitts’ 2023 fantasy football ADP and where to target him in fantasy drafts.

[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″ ]

Atlanta Falcons TE Kyle Pitts came into the league with a lot of pomp and circumstance, and there were expectations he would be the next great, big tight end, perhaps challenging the Kansas City Chiefs’ Jason Kelce one day for the best in the league. That hasn’t exactly came into fruition, at least not yet.

In 2 NFL seasons across 27 games played, Pitts has managed 96 receptions and 1,382 receiving yards, but he has found the end zone on just 3 total occasions across the 2 campaigns.

It isn’t all the fault of Pitts. In 2021, with now-retired QB Matt Ryan, the tight end had a 1,000-yard season with 110 targets and 68 grabs. Yes, Pitts found the end zone just once, but he looked to be everything as advertised come out of the University of Florida.

However, in Year 2, Pitts really struggled with former QB Marcus Mariota, and a knee injury knocked him out in November before he was able to work with QB Desmond Ridder in game action. As it stands, Pitts had devolved into a TE2 before the injury, but that could be good news for fantasy managers in 2023.

WIN YOUR FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE!
The Huddle has been turning players like you into winners for over 25 years. This season, it’s your turn. Custom fantasy football rankings, sleepers and tools are just a click away. Save 25% off the Internet’s best-kept secret. Subscribe now!

Kyle Pitts’ ADP: 68.71

(ADP data courtesy of MyFantasyLeague.com; last updated at time of this publishing – ADPs continually change as more drafts occur)

The truth of the matter is the tight end position in fantasy football is Kelce (7.83), Baltimore Ravens’ Mark Andrews (32.25) and then San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle (48.89), then it gets awfully sketchy after that.

Pitts had a 1,000-yard campaign in his rookie season, and he could be a bona fide high-end TE1 if he can stay healthy, and he can get just a little bit better quarterback play.

Among tight ends, Pitts’ ADP in redraft leagues is 7th, just behind the Philadelphia Eagles’ Dallas Goedert (63.86). Pitts’ ADP puts him ahead of Jacksonville Jaguars’ Evan Engram (80.08), Pittsburgh Steelers’ Pat Freiermuth (90.09), Cleveland Browns’ David Njoku (99.22) and Buffalo Bills’ Dalton Kincaid (99.29).

[gambcom-standard rankid=”3012″ ]

Kyle Pitts’ 2022 stats

Games: 10

Receptions | targets: 28 | 59

Receiving yards: 356

Receiving touchdowns: 2

FOOTBALL NEVER STOPS
Live games, analysis and more 7 days a week: Get ESPN+

Where should you draft Pitts?

Pitts is still smack dab in the middle of the TE1 conversation in fantasy football despite falling off dramatically in 2022. Fantasy managers know that the potential is there for big production.

However, there are still a lot of questions surrounding the Atlanta offense. Will rookie RB Bijan Robinson eat up a lot of the short to intermediate range targets catching balls out of the backfield, serving as Ridder’s safety valve? Can Pitts average more than 1.5 receiving TDs in a season, and be more of a presence in the red zone? And will Ridder elevate his play to make all of the receivers around him better?

If you miss out on the likes of Kelce, Andrews and Kittle, the second-tier of tight ends in fantasy is rather interchangeable. There are a lot of intriguing players with upsides. However, Pitts has a 1,000-yard season on his NFL resume already, and he could easily join that elite tier if his QB play is a little better, and if Pitts steps up his production in the red zone.

He is currently going anywhere from Round 6 through Round 7, and that’s a fine spot if you miss out on the elite TEs. Pitts has the potential to be exactly what he was in 2021, going over 1,000 yards. If he can get into the 6 or 7 TD area to go along with that yardage, he could be instrumental in winning you a fantasy championship. No, seriously.

Play our free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now!

[gambcom-standard rankid=”5″ ]

Follow Kevin J. Erickson on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Access more NFL coverage:

SportsbookWire.com | BetFTW | TheHuddle Fantasy Football | BearsWire | BengalsWire | BillsWire | BroncosWire | BrownsWire | BucsWire | CardsWire | ChargersWire | ChiefsWire | ColtsWire | CommandersWire | CowboysWire | DolphinsWire | EaglesWire | FalconsWire | GiantsWire | JaguarsWire | JetsWire | LionsWire | NinersWire | PackersWire | PanthersWire | PatriotsWire | RaidersWire | RamsWire | RavensWire | SaintsWire | SeahawksWire | SteelersWire | TexansWire | TitansWire | VikingsWire | DraftWire | TouchdownWire | ListWire

[lawrence-newsletter]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=3472]

Matt Ryan knew that Kyle Pitts’ breakout game was going to happen

Falcons rookie tight end Kyle Pitts hadn’t had a breakout game yet, but quarterback Matt Ryan knew it was coming against the Jets.

Sometimes, no matter how great a receiver is, it can take a minute to develop a connection with a new quarterback. That was the case for rookie Kyle Pitts, the Falcons’ first-round pick in 2021, and the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history. Pitts was a true unicorn in college even with current Buccaneers backup Kyle Trask throwing him helium balls all over the place, so with Matt Ryan as his NFL quarterback and new head coach/offensive play-caller Arthur Smith making the most out of two- and three-tight sets as he did when he was the Titans’ offensive coordinator, you would not be faulted if you took the over all all possible Pitts projections.

Through Atlanta’s first four games, though, that didn’t really happen. Pitts had just 15 catches on 29 targets for 189 yards and no touchdowns. The “bust” alarms weren’t going off yet, but there was room for concern.

Unless you talked with Ryan this week about Pitts’ potential in this offense, which I was fortunate to do.

Watching tape (again) with Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan

Ryan was quite effusive about how Pitts was fitting in so far, and that went back to the Falcons’ Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers, and their Week 3 win over the Giants. Pitts caught four passes on nine targets against Washington’s leaky defense in Week 4, but Ryan was unperturbed about the potential.

Perhaps all that was needed was a change in continent. In a 27-20 win over the Jets at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday morning, Pitts went off for nine catches on 10 targets for 119 yards and a touchdown, and another 29-yard catch that was negated by a holding penalty. The Falcons were without their two top receivers in Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage, so Pitts had to make his mark. Which is exactly what he did.

“I just thought we had the right guys who were going to step up,” Ryan told Melissa Stark of the NFL Network right after the game. “Kyle Pitts played the best game he’s played all year for us. He’s going to be a special player. He’s continued to get better as the year goes along. When we needed it the most, Kyle made the play that got us jump-started.”

That might have been Pitts’ first NFL touchdown, a two-yard score with 1:42 left in the first quarter that made the score 10-0.

Less than optimal coverage from the Jets, and as Ryan said after the game, the Falcons were ready to take advantage of Gang Green’s decision to play a ton of man coverage.

At other times, it was unclear exactly what the Jets were doing. When you have a 6-foot-6, 246-pound tight end who can run a 4.44 40-yard dash and vaporize late coverage on a deep post, you might want to watch out for that.

“I was just patient all through the week, and tried to have a great practice every day,” Pitts told Stark. “Trying to be the best I can be every day.”

It finally paid off for Pitts, but his quarterback knew beforehand that the explosion was coming.