Unpopular Opinion: You will waste your premium 1st round pick on Kyle Pitts.

[FantasyFreak]

I'd wait until he blows up and then trade him.

IDK why people would be in such a hurry to trade him if he blows up, with a QB situation that now looks stable for a while, just as he hits his prime, at a position it's hard to find weekly difference makers.

[wickerkat1212]

I'd wait until he blows up and then trade him.

IDK why people would be in such a hurry to trade him if he blows up, with a QB situation that now looks stable for a while, just as he hits his prime, at a position it's hard to find weekly difference makers.

I only meant if you WANTED to trade him. If he blows up, yes, he may finally be what we hoped he would be. I moved all of my shares a long time ago.

[FantasyFreak]

I'd wait until he blows up and then trade him.

IDK why people would be in such a hurry to trade him if he blows up, with a QB situation that now looks stable for a while, just as he hits his prime, at a position it's hard to find weekly difference makers.

I only meant if you WANTED to trade him. If he blows up, yes, he may finally be what we hoped he would be. I moved all of my shares a long time ago.

Ah. That makes sense then, yeah.

[repkllrs]

I'd wait until he blows up and then trade him.

IDK why people would be in such a hurry to trade him if he blows up, with a QB situation that now looks stable for a while, just as he hits his prime, at a position it's hard to find weekly difference makers.

He’s getting old. He’s already 23.

[tstafford]

Seems fair to say that this is a "prove it" year for Pitts (and London).

With respect to Pitts, what stat line would people need to see to feel comfortable putting Pitts in the top tier of dynasty TEs (along with LaPorta, McBride, Andrews?)?

I'll start: 80/1000/7. That would equal 236 PPR points and would have ranked as TE#3 last year. And it's only 1 catch per game, ~9 yards per game and 2 totals TDs more than he got last year. Seems quite doable.

[Jigga94]

Seems fair to say that this is a "prove it" year for Pitts (and London).

With respect to Pitts, what stat line would people need to see to feel comfortable putting Pitts in the top tier of dynasty TEs (along with LaPorta, McBride, Andrews?)?

I'll start: 80/1000/7. That would equal 236 PPR points and would have ranked as TE#3 last year. And it's only 1 catch per game, ~9 yards per game and 2 totals TDs more than he got last year. Seems quite doable.

I would say Pitts belongs in the top 6-8 TE already just based on talent, his rookie year and the lack of talent at TE elsewhere. He can be a real difference maker at the position.

To jump into the top tier with Laporta/McBride, he will need to finish above ~12-14 ppg (PPR) like the elite TE have. Another season with 10 ppg and he's just another guy with potential to have a huge year. I don't think he would drop much in ranks. You also have to consider where Kelce, Hock, Andrews, Kittle will be in age after this season as well. That should also keep Pitts in the TE1 mix.

Sidenote: no way should Bowers be ahead of McBride in rankings like he is on KTC

[Anteaters]

Seems fair to say that this is a "prove it" year for Pitts (and London).

With respect to Pitts, what stat line would people need to see to feel comfortable putting Pitts in the top tier of dynasty TEs (along with LaPorta, McBride, Andrews?)?

I'll start: 80/1000/7. That would equal 236 PPR points and would have ranked as TE#3 last year. And it's only 1 catch per game, ~9 yards per game and 2 totals TDs more than he got last year. Seems quite doable.

For starters, Pitts has to be better than Engram and Njoku. I'm not sure Pitts can do that.

That 80 catches looks both reasonable and too much. Even in Pitts' "breakout" rookie season when he had 1000+ yards, he had only 68 receptions. Yeah, less than 1 extra catch per game for 17 games will put him over 80.

Little known fact: TJHockenson averaged more receptions per game in 2023 with other QBs than he did in the games Cousins played. Not by much, but the stat is real.

In his career, Pitts has caught 57.5% of passes thrown to him. We could blame that on Ridder, but even in his rookie season with Ryan, Pitts caught only 61%. In his last two years in JAX, Engram catches 77% of passes. The last two years in CLE (since he's become the full time TE1), Njoku is catching 69% of passes. Laporta caught 71.7% last season. McBride's two seasons average to 75.9%. Kmet's four year career averages to 71.3%.

I'm not willing to put all the blame on Ridder. In 2023, McBride played half the season with Dobbs+Tune and still caught at a good rate. In 2022, Njoku played most of the season with Brissett and the rest with a subpar Watson, and still caught 72.5% of his passes.

I'm not saying Pitts will not do it, but I won't consider raising him to the top 5 until he proves he can catch passes as consistently as those guys.

[mild]

For starters, Pitts has to be better than Engram and Njoku. I'm not sure Pitts can do that.

That 80 catches looks both reasonable and too much. Even in Pitts' "breakout" rookie season when he had 1000+ yards, he had only 68 receptions. Yeah, less than 1 extra catch per game for 17 games will put him over 80.

Little known fact: TJHockenson averaged more receptions per game in 2023 with other QBs than he did in the games Cousins played. Not by much, but the stat is real.

If you don't think he has more talent than Engram and Njoku... then this probably isn't the thread for you.

Little known fact:

TJ Hockensen targets in 2023: 127
Kyle Pitts targets in 2023: 90

It doesn't have to be a whole 30% increase in the amount, but anything where we bridge that gap is money in the bank.

[cazzie33]

Gotta disagree with Ant on target %of catches being applicable here. Arthur Smith was an ignoramus of epic proportions using Pitts as clear out deep ball guy so much while creating ways to get the ball in the hands of Jonnu Smith in easier / higher percentage routes. Didn't watch all of the games but of those I did it was mind boggling the ways he used .

Catch percentage should go up close to 10% just based on that alone even without a Cousins addition as an accurate passer.

[Sriracha]

Gotta disagree with Ant on target %of catches being applicable here. Arthur Smith was an ignoramus of epic proportions using Pitts as clear out deep ball guy so much while creating ways to get the ball in the hands of Jonnu Smith in easier / higher percentage routes. Didn't watch all of the games but of those I did it was mind boggling the ways he used .

Catch percentage should go up close to 10% just based on that alone even without a Cousins addition as an accurate passer.

So, in your opinion do you believe Pitts is a better YAC guy than Jonnu?

[cazzie33]

Gotta disagree with Ant on target %of catches being applicable here. Arthur Smith was an ignoramus of epic proportions using Pitts as clear out deep ball guy so much while creating ways to get the ball in the hands of Jonnu Smith in easier / higher percentage routes. Didn't watch all of the games but of those I did it was mind boggling the ways he used .

Catch percentage should go up close to 10% just based on that alone even without a Cousins addition as an accurate passer.

So, in your opinion do you believe Pitts is a better YAC guy than Jonnu?

Has better chance of busting a long one and much larger catch radius

[killer_of_giants]

i bought in a non-ppr league, no TEP, 14 teams, 1QB.

pitts, 2.05, '25 3rd for diggs, metcalf, '26 4th

i believe.

[Sriracha]

Gotta disagree with Ant on target %of catches being applicable here. Arthur Smith was an ignoramus of epic proportions using Pitts as clear out deep ball guy so much while creating ways to get the ball in the hands of Jonnu Smith in easier / higher percentage routes. Didn't watch all of the games but of those I did it was mind boggling the ways he used .

Catch percentage should go up close to 10% just based on that alone even without a Cousins addition as an accurate passer.

So, in your opinion do you believe Pitts is a better YAC guy than Jonnu?

Has better chance of busting a long one and much larger catch radius

Jonnu had a 60 yard TD last year (almost all of it after the catch).. he's more than capable of busting a long run and has more tackle breaking ability than anything Pitts has shown thus far into his career.

People just assume that because Pitts is a better player he deserves all the touches but in a complex sport there are things that he does well (downfield threat) and things he's not especially good at (YAC)

[FantasyFreak]

So, in your opinion do you believe Pitts is a better YAC guy than Jonnu?

Has better chance of busting a long one and much larger catch radius

Jonnu had a 60 yard TD last year (almost all of it after the catch).. he's more than capable of busting a long run and has more tackle breaking ability than anything Pitts has shown thus far into his career.

People just assume that because Pitts is a better player he deserves all the touches but in a complex sport there are things that he does well (downfield threat) and things he's not especially good at (YAC)

Yep. The new staff have said they plan to feature him more though, and in the red zone too, which makes sense. Jonnu is gone, but I didn't have a problem with the screens he got last year. Big issue was lack or red zone usage, and really a lack of creativity in the route concepts, IMO.

Pitts should have a career year, being fully healthy, and having a massive QB upgrade. Assuming health of course.

[Anteaters]

For starters, Pitts has to be better than Engram and Njoku. I'm not sure Pitts can do that.

That 80 catches looks both reasonable and too much. Even in Pitts' "breakout" rookie season when he had 1000+ yards, he had only 68 receptions. Yeah, less than 1 extra catch per game for 17 games will put him over 80.

Little known fact: TJHockenson averaged more receptions per game in 2023 with other QBs than he did in the games Cousins played. Not by much, but the stat is real.

If you don't think he has more talent than Engram and Njoku... then this probably isn't the thread for you.

Little known fact:

TJ Hockensen targets in 2023: 127
Kyle Pitts targets in 2023: 90

It doesn't have to be a whole 30% increase in the amount, but anything where we bridge that gap is money in the bank.

TJHockenson is averaging about 72% catch percentage since arriving in Minnesota. Maybe the coaches/QBs in Atlanta would have targeted Pitts more if he caught passes as consistently as Hockenson? Why keep throwing to a guy who drops passes more frequently than the best of TEs? There is a reason why Jonnu got a lot of targets at TE last year and the reason is not because the coaches were stupid.

Little known fact: While receiving passes from the same QBs as Pitts in 2023, Jonnu Smith caught 71.4% of passes that came his way.
Reminder: In 2023, Pitts caught 58.9% of passes that came his way.
That's why Pitts was not targeted more. Because the coaches and QBs trusted Jonnu more to complete the catch.

If Pitts improves his catch rate, I think he'll have a good chance at a more productive season. If Pitts remains around a 61% catch rate, Cousins will target Pitts less often than you'd want.