3 Atlanta Falcons players who are relieved Kirk Cousins has been benched

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1. Kyle Pitts

Taylor Heinicke, Desmond Ridder, Marcus Mariota, and Kirk Cousins all quickly lost trust in Kyle Pitts. The tight-end would have a handful of good games but consistently fail to make an impact. The energy with which he ran routes decreased and there was a consistent inability to use his size to his advantage. All of this is true and the Falcons have every reason to throw their hands up and give up on the former top-five pick.

As a reminder, the Falcons chose Pitts over Micah Parsons and Ja'Marr Chase. At the time this wasn't an outlandish pick despite the position Pitts played based on his talent. Matt Ryan made the receiver look great despite dealing with a failing offensive line and a terrible run game. Pitts was over 1,000-receiving yards and looked to be well on his way to a great career.

Three years later and fans are left hoping that a rookie quarterback can bring his career back to life. Pitts has been a lesser target than offseason cap cut Jonnu Smith has had with the Miami Dolphins. If there is any hope that Pitts is going to turn things around it starts with a quarterback change and having great chemistry with Penix.

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