Honestly, Pitts’s ceiling is GOAT based on athleticism by itself let alone his productivity. Starting your career with Matt Ryan throwing to you is way better than what most early picks have to deal with.
Downside is that tight ends tend to have shitty rookie seasons. Kind of have to wait that out but if you’re rebuilding then there’s little rush to win immediately.
A good chunk of TEs drafted in the top 10 were drafted in the 1970s when the game was very different. Comparing them to the tight ends that play the game today is disingenuous. Tight ends being coveted pass catchers is pretty recent (going back no further than the 2000s) and extremely rare. This year there were three elite receiving tight ends in the league (Kelce, Kittle, Waller). Pitts is a unicorn.
The point about this TE is that it doesn’t matter how good he is. His absolute ceiling is capped at 25% of a top tier QB. Only one of these dudes can win you everything. Eight of the nine teams who had a chance to get the guy who can win you everything didn’t even enter the contest. That’s what you’re doing by taking a TE with the 4th pick when you have a 35-year-old budget beer brand QB with a 39-year-old backup.
But a top tier QB even in the top 10 picks is a legitimate coin flip.
Pitts if he stays healthy, is way more of a sure thing than the 4th QB taken this draft. The Falcons can pretty easily get the 3rd of 4th best QB in a draft class next year or in two years. Can they get the best WR/TE prospect in years? Probably not imo.
We’ve also seen SB wins or appearances by a ton of average QB in recent times. Does having a top 5 QB help? Obviously. But there’s a team in the final 4 every year without one.
Thought I might go for a walk before the draft. But instead I’ve been on the phone for an absolutely soul-crushing hour and a half with Frontier trying to figure out why I’m not getting NFL Network anymore.
I meant on the phone with Frontier. Like “How much will the sports package cost?” 15 minutes to determine it’s $10.
Then for some reason my bill went up by $20. And they have to send a technician. To give me the sports package. And he can’t come until Monday. After the Draft. And now I can’t even cancel it until Monday.
I was in an ok mood today. Now I’m in a blind rage. Love being treated like shit by companies I spend a lot of money with.
Even the survey that was supposed to come after the call didn’t happen. What a completely FUBAR company.
I don’t believe it. This world isn’t kind enough to give us Mahomes-Rodgers two or three times a year. As evidence of that I give you draft host Mike Greenberg.
