The baron landscape of fantasy football tight ends is no laughing matter with Kyle Pitts ringing as the main enemy. If not for the likes of Travis Kelce, tight ends would be nothing more than an afterthought.
The name of the game is to have the best talent on the roster, or at the very least draft with the best value. In most cases, tight ends will find themselves at the bottom of the barrel.
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Will turning to Pitts once again finally be a viable option for fantasy managers? For those who dealt with the turmoil of 2022, now is the time to look away.
Kyle Pitts 2023 Fantasy Football Outlook
Kyle Pitts makes catching off target passes look so easy it's a joke pic.twitter.com/tt0RlVlAVl
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) August 18, 2023
A Season To Forget In The Rearview
There’s no telling what Pitts can do in a more pass-heavy offense. The Atlanta Falcons and head coach Arthur Smith proved to be the nightmare combo all Pitts owners feared.
Coming into the 2021 draft, Pitts was selected fourth overall marking the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history. While nothing truly stands out, among fantasy tight ends Pitts finished sixth averaging 10.6 points per game.
There seemed only to be room to grow as managers drafted Pitts at an average of TE4 right behind guys like Mark Andrews and TJ Hockenson. Instead, the Falcons once again played with owners’ feelings drafting Drake London eighth overall and sending Pitts all the way down to TE33.
There’s no doubt in Pitts’ abilities. Unfortunately, he is at the mercy of a run-heavy Falcons offense that just landed another stud in the draft in Bijan Robinson.
Pitts needs a lot of work to make up the lost volume or else he will find himself in the same trap as his previous two seasons.
Drake London 💪🏾
Kyle Pitts 🦄
Bijan Robinson 💨
Three Headed Monster 😈
It’s about to get scary in Atlanta 🤐#DirtyBirds pic.twitter.com/CzT6knsvfA
— 𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙚 (@ATLFalconsMuse) August 21, 2023
Is It Possible To Trust Kyle Pitts?
As it currently stands, Pitts is projected as TE6 in standard PPR formats. It may be wise to wait a bit longer depending on how the draft is falling.
While the freakish abilities of Pitts are frustrating to watch, the Falcons are slowly getting more mouths to feed. Why draft Pitts at TE6 when you can wait for guys like Evan Engram or Pat Freiermuth to fall into your lap?
On the other hand, why would the Falcons use a top-five pick on a player and hardly use him? Perhaps this can finally be the year Pitts has his breakout season.
Question marks continue to loom among the quarterbacks, but if the ball gets thrown enough times the volume can do Pitts some justice. If Robinson is as good as advertised and London continues to be dominant at finding the ball, there will likely be enough space for Pitts to go to work.
The strong recommendation would be to go with someone else to fill the void at tight end. Let Pitts prove his worth over the course of the season before jumping the gun. Especially with second-year man Desmond Ridder at quarterback to start the season.
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