As the fourth overall pick, Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. entered the league in 2021 with ridiculously high expectations. Despite becoming the first rookie tight end since Mike Ditka to generate 1,000-plus receiving yards as a rookie (Brock Bowers has since matched the feat), Pitts has failed to meet the bar that his draft pedigree and potential established.
That changed on Thursday night, with a prime-time breakout only four games away from his first crack at free agency: 11 catches, 166 yards, three touchdowns.
It was his first 100-yard game of the season, although in recent weeks he’d been getting closer and closer. In Week 13, Pitts had a then-season-high 82 yards on seven catches against the Jets. In Week 14, he gained 90 yards on six catches.
Also, the Week 15 game resulted in his first 100-yard receiving performance since December 26, 2021.
After last night, the past may not matter. He showed what he can do, under the right circumstances. And as Bill Walsh once said, if a guy can do something once, he can be coached to do it consistently.
So here’s the question. What will happen when Pitts becomes available? Will a team be sufficiently enthralled by last night’s showing that it shows him the kind of money most never dreamed he’d earn?
The Buccaneers, who witnessed it the hard way, may want to put him at the top of the wish list. If it turns out to be Mike Evans’s final year in Tampa, that money and cap space could go to Pitts.
Really, any team with a need at the position should consider Pitts. Any team without a need should evaluate him as a potential upgrade.
On Thursday night, everyone saw what Kyle Pitts can do. Of the 32 teams in the NFL, one of them likely will decide to pay him a lot of money in the hopes that he’ll do it again.
And again. And again.
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