There is no player in the NFL with a weirder career trajectory than Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts. Back in 2021, then-Falcons GM Terry Fontenot made Pitts the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history, but across the last five years and change, no player has enjoyed higher highs and lower lows.
Pitts went for over 1,000 yards as a rookie, then was bogged down by a mix of injuries and bad QB play across the next three years. But in 2025, he enjoyed a bounce-back year, as he logged career-highs in both receptions (88) and touchdowns (5), in a contract year which saw the Falcons give him a three-year, $54 million extension rather than letting him play on the franchise tag.
At $18 million a year, Atlanta made the former top-five pick the third-highest paid tight end in the NFL--so they had every reason to get him involved. And Kevin Stefanski's offense has been known to excel at getting tight ends involved, so everyone believed the sky was the limit for Pitts this season.
All of the stars were aligned for another career year, and another step toward becoming one of the best TEs in football, but unfortunately, this hasn't been the case. The former Mackey Award winner's NFL career has been defined by inconsistency, and these last three weeks have been no different.
The Atlanta Falcons need to get Kyle Pitts more involved in the offense
Through three games in 2026, Pitts has caught just two passes for 20 yards. That's it. He went catch-less in Week 1, caught a 15-yard pass in Week 2, and just a five-yard gain in Week 3. That's pretty brutal in itself, but the bigger issue here is that he has just six targets across this time frame. It's not like it's a lack of production-- it's a lack of usage.
The lack of usage in the first two weeks seemed to be because Cooper Rush was starting, but nothing changed in Week 3 against the Packers. The 25-year-old (soon to be 26-year-old) was just as invisible with Michael Penix Jr, starting, although game script didn't do him any favors on Thursday.
The 35-14 win saw Drake London and Bijan Robinson look like the centerpieces of the offense while Pitts was once again the decoy. He hasn't been involved in the red zone, as a safety valve, or even as a downfield threat despite his athleticism. He's mainly been out there for cardio to do his best Tony Snell impression.
At this point, there are a lot of fantasy managers (including yours truly) frustrated with how this has played out. Last week, Tommy Rees even admitted the Dirty Birds wanted to get him more involved, but hasn't put his money where his mouth is. Rather than using him like Brock Bowers (deploying him as a WR for a matchup nightmare), there hasn't been any urgency to utilize Pitts creatively.
Even in an offense consistently running multi-TE sets, Pitts hasn't been involved. His route participation is down, he played less snaps than Charlie Woerner on TNF, and he'll never have a better rapport with Penix than London.
It's such a frustrating story because every year we here that this is the year of the Florida product, and because of the upside (and talent) we always fall for it. This guy was once a generational prospect, and for all of the young TEs taking the NFL by storm, the one on the Falcons isn't.
While there is a lot of opportunities for this to change, all the money the Falcons paid Kyle Pitts is starting to look like a bad investment as this new offense continues to treat him like a supporting character.
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