Atlanta Falcons: Kyle Pitts just became abundantly more important

The passing game for the Atlanta Falcons has been one of the biggest disappointments of the season so far – besides the winless start, of course.

It has been mostly a result of an awful pass-blocking offensive line, and partly due to receivers not getting open consistently. The lack of physicality on the outside has been apparent. The Falcons just do not have the length at wide receiver on the outside to be the type of offense that they were with Julio Jones.

This is where a huge piece for the Falcons comes into play and his name is Kyle Pitts.

Kyle Pitts has now become exceedingly more important for Atlanta’s offensive success.

We all know what kind of player Calvin Ridley is for the Falcons, he is a dynamic route-runner and playmaker, but he lacks one thing – physicality.

This is not a knock on his play, he plays the position as an electric playmaker but is not the same type of player as Julio Jones was. Julio Jones was an important piece for Atlanta during his time with the team, he struck fear in every defender.

When Jones left, Russell Gage slid right into the second spot on the depth chart. On the year, he has simply been disappointing. He has yet to make a real impact and that will definitely not change against the New York Giants – he has been ruled out for the game.

Now Tajae Sharpe, Christian Blake, and Olamide Zaccheaus are the de-facto receivers behind Ridley. Not exactly the most frightening group.

Kyle Pitts must be used as the second outside receiver if the offense wants to consistently move the ball. He is the scary player that can cover up for the loss of Julio Jones over the offseason, and Russell Gage this past week.

He also must be on the field for most of the game, Arthur Smith has been rotating him in and out during the first two games and the negative effect has been apparent.

It is something that Arthur cannot ignore, the offense is stoic without Kyle Pitts, no way around it.

It can only get worse with Russell Gage out for the whole game coming up. They are scary-thin at wide receiver and Kyle Pitts can help cover it up.