NFL

Fantasy Football: Will Kyle Pitts Be a High-End Producer Immediately With the Falcons?

Pitts is an otherworldly tight end prospect. Should fantasy football players be salivating at the thought of him on the Falcons?

One of the most hyped-up tight ends in recent draft history, Kyle Pitts came off the board fourth overall to the Atlanta Falcons. Things trended this way leading into the draft as FanDuel Sportsbook had Pitts at -390 at to be the the fourth pick.

This is the culmination of a pre-draft process that saw Pitts receive an enormous amount of praise everywhere you looked. Pitts earned the highest ever single-season PFF grade for a tight end during his 770-yard, 12-touchdown junior season in 2020. PlayerProfiler gives Pitts a 96th percentile breakout age, 92nd percentile college dominator rating and 87th percentile SPARQ-x rating.

Dude is a monster, and he checks about every box imaginable. But we know tight ends usually start their careers slowly in the NFL. Will Pitts be an exception?

Player Comparisons

numberFire's JJ Zachariason and Jim Sannes break down Pitts' profile, and Jim gives his top comparison.


Brandon Gdula's draft database has found these 10 prior prospects to have the most similar statistical profiles to Pitts. Keep in mind that these are based not on play style or traits but age, athleticism, draft equity, experience, efficiency, and production.

Kyle Pitts Profile Comparisons Similarity
Evan Engram 87.0%
Eric Ebron 86.6%
Mike Gesicki 86.5%
Jermaine Gresham 85.5%
OJ Howard 85.4%
Vernon Davis 85.0%
Greg Olsen 84.8%
Noah Fant 84.5%
Ladarius Green 83.5%
Rob Gronkowski 81.5%


Gdula's Take: Pitts certainly deserves the TE1 grade -- and it's not close. He trails just Vernon Davis among tight end prospects in my model, which dates back to 2003.

Pitts' 2021 Fantasy Football Projection

Zachariason's initial rookie-year projections for Pitts include 67 catches, 771 yards and 6.7 touchdowns over the 17-game season, making him the PPR TE6.

While that projection is certainly eye-catching for a rookie tight end, Pitts' floor and ceiling could be even higher if the Falcons trade away Julio Jones, something that might happen this offseason, according to reports. As of now, Pitts, Jones and Calvin Ridley make up a pretty fearsome pass-game trio, and Matt Ryan -- who Zachariason projects as the QB12 -- should be a big beneficiary.

The Falcons are listed at +5000 to win the Super Bowl on FanDuel Sportsbook as well as +750 to win the NFC South, and they have a win total projection of 7.5 on FOX Bet.