FANTASY FOOTBALL NEWS

Falcons Have Big Plans for Kyle Pitts

By Jared Smola | Updated on Tue, 16 Jul 2024, 8:23 AM EDT

The Falcons' new coaching staff has big plans for TE Kyle Pitts this season. OC Zac Robinson said that Pitts is playing both TE and WR in his offense. “He’s learning basically two different positions,” Robinson said. “There’s some tight end and there’s some receiver. So, he’s got a lot on his plate. He’s handled it really well. I’m just excited to see him continue to get more comfortable in the system. The sky is the limit for what kind of season that he can have."

What They're Saying

New TEs coach Kevin Koger is similarly excited about Pitts' potential. Koger studied all of Pitts' NFL games this offseason and came away believing that Pitts simply wasn't healthy last year. (Pitts himself admitted that his surgically repaired knee was a problem.)

“There were some things, even he will probably tell you that he didn’t feel 100 percent, but Kyle is a tough kid,” Koger said. “... I think that some of that was coming off that knee and him not feeling too confident in putting that foot in the ground and be able to change directions.”

Now? “He’s getting to that point where he feels confident,” Koger said. “He starting to play faster. ... You saw that speed translating on the field that year when he was healthy. He was rolling. He’s excited to get back to that form.”

2024 Fantasy Football Impact

Pitts has been a fantasy disappointment the last two seasons. He missed seven games and ranked TE24 in PPR points per game in 2022. Then he finished 18th in points per game last year.

But Pitts was an elite prospect coming out of Florida and turned in an elite rookie season. His 1,026 yards were the second most by a rookie TE in NFL history.

Now Pitts is healthy, got a QB upgrade in Kirk Cousins, and finds himself in a pass-heavier offense than what former HC Arthur Smith deployed. We're buying a bounce-back 2024 season from the 23-year-old. And he's cheaper in fantasy drafts this summer, with an ADP sitting in Round 6.

Jared Smola, Lead Analyst

Jared has been with Draft Sharks since 2007. He’s now Lead Analyst, heading up the preseason and weekly projections that fuel your Draft War Room and My Team tools. He currently ranks 1st among 133 analysts in draft rankings accuracy.