It happens every year around this time.
The Kyle Pitts hype.
The Atlanta Falcons tight end is someone that nobody can quit. NFL analysts expect more out of him. Fantasy football players figure this is the season he'll break out. There's no tight end so entrancing in all of the league.
Pitts is still only 24, for Pete's sake.
But it all raises one gigantic question:
Will Pitts ever again look like the player he was as a rookie?
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The hype doesn't just come from the fact that the Falcons took Pitts No. 4 overall out of Florida in 2021.
No, it's the fact that he followed that up with a great rookie year. He caught 68 passes for 1,026 yards (and oddly, only one touchdown).
But Pitts has never reached even 700 yards in a season since then.
He battled injuries in 2022, but then in 2023 and 2024, he averaged 633 yards per season while playing all 17 games both times.
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Pitts has been involved in trade rumors this offseason, too. He's entering the final year of his contract with the Falcons.
Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has said all the right things about Pitts. They seem to have a good relationship, which could help.
But at the end of the day, this comes down to whether the 6-foot-6 freak athlete that Pitts is can finally break out.
Does he finally prove himself as a star? Or does Pitts go down as one of the more disappointing flashes in the pan in recent memory?
This is the season everyone finds out.
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