In Friday night's preseason opener against the Denver Broncos, new Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa attempted just five passes… Four of them went to Kyle Pitts.
Tagovailoa completed three of those attempts for 22 yards, meaning Pitts accounted for every completion from Atlanta's starting quarterback in his brief debut. The Falcons ultimately lost 27-7, and Tagovailoa's performance left well, plenty to be desired, but his connection with Pitts immediately stood out.
That is obviously a tiny sample size. It would be ridiculous to look at five preseason passes and declare that Pitts is about to have the best season of his career.
Still, the usage was encouraging.
The Atlanta Falcons clearly believe last year's production was the beginning of something rather than a one year spike. And Friday's game offered another reason to believe that.
Pitts didn't need a huge stat line to make his presence felt. The more important part was that Tagovailoa consistently looked his way.
A quarterback entering a new offense having an obvious security blanket at tight end can be extremely valuable. Now Tua is showing an early willingness to use him.
The Falcons need Pitts to be exactly this important
Kyle Pitts’ 2025 season already showed what he can do when Atlanta consistently gets him involved… He led the team in receiving yards, accounted for 25.1% of the Falcons' receiving yards and became only the second tight end in franchise history to record multiple seasons with at least 900 receiving yards.
The new coaching staff now has an opportunity to take that even further.
And the early signs have been positive. The Falcons' own offseason evaluation of Pitts noted that his buy in to Stefanski's program had been strong, while the team views his versatility as something that can give offensive coordinator Tommy Rees plenty of options.
Now Friday night didn't prove that the contract will ultimately be a great one. There are still 16 regular season games ahead, and Pitts will have to maintain his 2025 production before anyone can make that argument.
But if Tua continues looking for No. 8 this often, Atlanta may have found exactly what it wanted when it decided to invest in Pitts for the long term.
The preseason opener was ugly for the Atlanta Falcons. Kyle Pitts was one of the few reasons to feel good about it. And considering how much Atlanta just paid him, that's probably exactly what the team wanted to see.
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