Atlanta Falcons: If Kyle Pitts doesn’t break this record, it will be a disappointment

The Atlanta Falcons selected prolific tight end Kyle Pitts with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and there has been plenty of discussion surround the offensive weapon since that point.

Many Falcons fans are excited about the potential of pairing Pitts with Calvin Ridley and Julio Jones for what could be the most potent offense we’ve seen in quite some time with this franchise.

On the other hand, there are some who say selecting a tight end that early in the draft was a mistake and they’re not sold that Pitts will elevate the offense to another level.

If Kyle Pitts doesn’t break this record, Atlanta Falcons fans will be disappointed

Since 1961 in the pre-merger era, no rookie tight end has ever had over 1,000 yards receiving in a single season. Mike Ditka was the last one to do it.

Since the merger era, the most yardage ever accumulated by a rookie tight end happened in 2002 when Jeremy Shockey finished the season with 894 yards receiving.

If Pitts doesn’t top this list, Atlanta Falcons fans are going to be disappointed and there’s really no doubt about it.

Pitts is the highest-drafted tight end in the history of the NFL. That means we’re expecting him to have results that would show why he deserved that honor and breaking the positional rookie record for receiving yardage in a season has to be one of those first measuring sticks for which we’ll judge the Falcons’ decision.

For Pitts to get that 1,000 yard mark in a 17-game regular season, he would need to average just over 58.8 yards per game. It’s obviously easier said than done, but the Falcons drafted Pitts with the belief that he could come in and elevate the offense immediately.

If he’s not able to get the job done- barring something unforeseen like an injury- Falcons fans have every right to begin to question the evaluation efforts of this new front-office.