After being selected fourth overall in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, the first two seasons of Kyle Pitts’ career have been a little up and down. In his rookie campaign, Pitts splashed onto the scene racking up 1,026 yards off of 68 receptions, and one of those receptions was his one and only touchdown of the season. Now, even though the touchdowns weren’t there, Pitts was only fifty-one yards away from breaking Mike Ditka’s record for most receiving yards by a rookie tight end in NFL history.
Looking back to last season Pitts’ numbers took a dip because of the offensive identity change the Atlanta Falcons had last season becoming a run heavy team, Pitts obviously getting injured and suffering a torn MCL in week eleven, and yes quarterback play. In 10 games last season Pitts caught 28 passes for 356 yards and two touchdowns, but despite the down sophomore campaign in just two seasons Kyle Pitts is already considered to be a really good tight end in the NFL.
However, Jon Chuckery believes he hasn’t reached elite status yet, so will year three be the year Kyle Pitts jumps into elite status? Thursday night on The Jon Chuckery Show Jon explained what he believes Pitts has to do to get to that “elite” status. First off, Chuckery explained what elite status looks like first saying “When I talk about that he’s got to take that next step to be elite, that’s Travis Kelce territory, even George Kittle in some ways.”
If you want a number put on what Chuckery considers elite status, Jon did just that saying “He should be 100 catches, 1,300/1,400 yards, and a dozen touchdowns, or we have to start having the conversation about how many games are we going to win like this.” Now, Jon isn’t saying Kyle Pitts is a bad player, but he does question if Kyle Pitts was worth the fourth overall pick in 2021 saying “I’m not saying Kyle Pitts is a bad player, i’m not saying that he’s not a good player, but has he been worth the fourth pick in the draft?”
Jon believes the time is now for Kyle Pitts to make that elite jump saying “There’s no more excuse making in all of this. This has to be the year where he goes to that elite status level that he’s one of the best one or two tight ends in the game of football, and that is 100 catches, 1,300 yards, 10 or more touchdowns, that’s the numbers.” Jon understands that quarterback play could’ve been ailing Kyle Pitts last season, but right now he says “I don’t give a crap who's playing quarterback.”
Of course Pitts has to stay healthy and play a full season, Jon understands all of that, but Chuckery believes that Kyle Pitts is one of those guys that has to take the next step to the next level saying “I’m expecting his best year as an NFL pro. This is his breakout season.” If the Atlanta Falcons are going to get back into the playoffs and finally win their first SuperBowl in franchise history they will certainly need Kyle Pitts to be the unicorn he was advertised to be when he was drafted.