It seems that not many people are aware of how good Kyle Pitts is because of the weight of expectations that have followed him for a half-decade. When the Atlanta Falcons made him the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history, he was expected to transform the perception of the position.
And while Pitts has been a plenty good player, he's never come close to the "generational" label he got coming out of college. He still became one of three tight ends to surpass 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie, so any narrative that he's been a draft bust is plain wrong, even relative to expectations. 2025 was a needed breakout season for him, setting career highs in receptions and touchdowns.
The Falcons' new regime saw enough to feel comfortable giving the 25-year-old a three-year, $54 million contract extension, and while it's a pretty team-friendly deal, the deal has received some blowback. Kyle Pitts already has enough motivation to perform in 2026, and that list is getting longer.
Kyle Pitts' placement in TE rankings is new bulletin board material for Falcons star
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler surveyed over 70 NFL scouts, coaches, and executives about the 10 best players at every position, and Pitts was one of the players listed in the tight end rankings. He came in at a respectable eighth, but when you look closer at these rankings, he should be higher than he is.
"If he's confident and you believe in him, he will ball out," an NFL coordinator said. "If he gets involved early, he can be the most dominant player on the field."
En route to an eighth place finish, the former top-five pick was ranked lower than players like Tucker Kraft, Colston Loveland, and Tyler Warren, which is just insane. The recency bias is starting to show, and while these young TEs have bright futures, it's hard to justify putting them ahead of current Pitts.
Kraft broke out in 2025 when he was healthy, but he missed more than half the season due to a season-ending injury. Loveland was a non-factor in Chicago until the end of the season where his playoff performance did the heavy lifting, and Warren's production dropped off without Daniel Jones.
Meanwhile, the Florida product ranks fourth at the tight end position in receiving yards since 2021, and is only trailing the once-holy trinity of Mark Andrews, Travis Kelce, and George Kittle. At 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, Pitts moves like a bigger receiver, and the Dirty Birds are basically paying him to be their WR2.
What people forget about Pitts is that he's been saddled with some truly abysmal quarterback play. An aging Matt Ryan is the best QB he's played with, and the play-calling hasn't been better. Yet he's still been productive and his best year should come with Kevin Stefanski and Tua Tagovailoa in 2026.
Getting paid was only half the battle for a player like Kyle Pitts. There are still plenty of doubters, and many still don't realize just how elite he is because of those initial expectations. Off that alone, they see him as a disappointment, but still has more of a proven track record than any of these exciting youngsters--and Fowler's rankings gave him brand-new bulletin board material as well.
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