In the 2021 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons made Kyle Pitts the highest-drafted tight end of the Super Bowl era. After a rocket launch, sadness set in for the exceptional talent. Now the Falcons’ “unicorn” finally seems to be on the rise again.
Before the 2021 draft, the hype surrounding Kyle Pitts was huge. The Florida Gators tight end was hailed as a “generational talent” and a “unicorn.” But it was still a surprise that Pitts ended up with the Atlanta Falcons with the fourth pick. After all, the Falcons could have used a quarterback or a pass rusher. And take a tight end in the top five? You don’t actually do that. But things turned out differently and Pitts actually became a Falcon.
And he immediately repaid the trust. 68 catches for 1,026 yards were the rookie’s impressive statistics in his first NFL season. Pitts joined Hall of Famer Mike Ditka as the first tight end to reach 1,000 yards as a rookie. Only his touchdown yield could be improved; Pitts only found his way into the end zone once.
However, with the departure of Falcons legend Matt Ryan, the situation for Kyle Pitts worsened drastically. And not just for Pitts, the entire Falcons offense had to deal with the departure of the long-standing quarterback.
His successor was Marcus Mariota, who, however, had anything but a good season. Pitts also suffered from this, as he had 28 catches, 356 yards and two touchdowns, but missed all of the last seven games.
In the game against the Chicago Bears in week eleven, Pitts injured his right knee and subsequently even had to have meniscus surgery. His season ended prematurely.
NFL: Pitts is struggling with the effects of a knee injury
Pitts did not seem to have recovered from the effects of this injury for a long time. After the Falcons’ London Game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, head coach Arthur Smith indicated that Pitts was not yet back to full fitness.
“Look, he’s out there,” Smith said. “There’s no perfect schedule. But there are certain things he’s doing really well at the moment and there are certain things he can’t do well. It’s been a long journey back. He’ll get there,” explained the coach.
At the time, Pitts was “close” to being healthy again. “I hate to give percentages, but you have to admit there were some things against Jacksonville where he looked as fast as he did as a rookie,” said Smith, cautiously optimistic after the Week 5 game.
On the way to recovery
And he was right: Pitts followed up with his best performance of the season in Week 6 against the Texans. He had seven catches for 87 yards in the 21:19 win against Houston. A total of eleven targets showed that the Falcons finally had more confidence in their tight end.
In Week 6, Pitts scored his first touchdown of the season. Even though the Commanders had Pitts under control a little better than the Texans, there was once again an improvement in Pitts’ processes.
Apparently it was a conscious decision that Pitts only played a supporting role in the Falcons’ offense in the first few games. Arthur Smith most likely did not voluntarily forego using Pitts to suit his strengths.
After all, it was Smith himself who, together with his staff, chose Pitts in his first draft as NFL head coach in 2021. And by the way, not without criticism. Even if none of the countless draft experts wanted to diminish Pitts’ talent, using a top-five pick for a tight end still seemed like too big an investment for some.
The Falcons Way of Drafting
Some parallels can be drawn here with this year’s draft. Again the Falcons had a top 10 pick, again they could have used a pass rusher or possibly a quarterback.
But in Bijan Robinson such a “generational talent” was once again available and the Falcons struck again. Take a running back with pick eight? And that despite the fact that they only had a 1,000-yard rookie running back in Tyler Allgeier last year?
Regardless of the tactical considerations to further advance the already strong running game, drafting highly talented athletes seems to be the way to go under Arthur Smith and GM Terry Fontenot, even if there are certainly major areas of construction in the squad. An exciting approach that is not always met with approval.
Bijan Robinson, however, is now showing that his choice was anything but a mistake. The running back already has 590 scrimmage yards and made some spectacular plays.
Falcons fans want Kyle Pitts to make spectacular plays again, but they can rest assured. The Kyle Pitts page in the Falcons’ playbook, which should also be used on Sunday in Tampa Bay (live on RTL+ from 7 p.m.), has been bookmarked again for two weeks.
Marcel Schmidt