Atlanta Falcons: Kyle Pitts just made Falcons a potential playoff contender

With the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected tight end Kyle Pitts from the University of Florida Thursday evening.

For those who have been following the draft process, especially over the last couple of weeks, this pick shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Falcons showed their hand early on in the spring when they restructured Matt Ryan’s contract and began looking intently at the best available players who could make an impact immediately.

The ultimate choice was simple: You can’t pass on a potential generational talent like Kyle Pitts.

Pitts could make the Atlanta Falcons a playoff contender sooner rather than later

It’s too early to say what the Falcons will look like this fall and most don’t believe that adding a prolific tight end to the offense will be enough to all of a sudden make the Falcons a legitimate contender.

That being said, what Pitts is going to bring to the Atlanta offense can’t be understated.

He is going to be paired with two of the top wide receivers in the league in Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley, assuming no trades happen this summer, and that’s going to make this Falcons offense one of the most dangerous in the league.

Pitts is too big and too physical to be guarded by a defensive back. He’s too fast and athletic to be guarded by a linebacker. That’s why he is referred to by many Draft Analysts as “the unicorn of the draft.”

The NFL is a league that is all about offense. The Falcons now have a proven offensive system with a coach who has excelled on that side of the ball in Arthur Smith and they now have some extremely prolific pieces at the skill positions.

That’s why the addition of Pitts could make the Atlanta Falcons a legitimate playoff contender.

What Pitts is able to do for an offense can’t be understated. We’ll have to wait and see what other moves are made during the draft and this offseason before we’re able to talk about the Falcons and the postseason, but don’t think that it’s completely out of the question either.

The Falcons lost eight games by a touchdown or less last season. Could Pitts’ production be the difference between some of those losses and potential wins in the future?