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Former Florida Gators Star Kyle Pitts Near Top of NFL Tight End Leaderboard
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- Former Florida Gators Star Kyle Pitts Near Top of NFL Tight End Leaderboard
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Former Florida Gators star Kyle Pitts is having a strong season thus far for the Atlanta Falcons.
Pitts has four touchdowns. That's tied for second in the NFL among tight ends.
In his 37 offensive snaps last week against the San Francisco 49ers, Pitts hauled in each of his five targets for a total of 22 yards. His biggest play of the day came in the halfway mark of the third quarter, when he caught a five-yard touchdown pass to take the lead against the then-undefeated 49ers.
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For the third straight week, the former First-Team All-American recorded a receiving touchdown.
Pitts has 20 catches for 191 yards and four touchdowns this season. Slowly but surely, he's starting to look like the guy we watched at Florida.
Pitts appeared in 32 games at Florida. He caught 100 passes for 1,492 yards and 18 touchdowns. The playmaker was an All-American in 2020 when he caught 43 passes for 770 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Florida won the Peach Bowl against Michigan in 2018, won the Orange Bowl against Virginia in 2019 and lost the Cotton Bowl to Oklahoma in 2020 during the Pitts era.
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The Falcons selected Pitts with the fourth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Pitts made the Pro Bowl as a rookie.
Pitts entered this NFL season with 284 receptions for 3,579 yards and 15 touchdowns. He's been up and down with the Falcons, but the hope is that the former Florida star will be more consistent moving forward with Michael Penix Jr. at QB.
The Falcons are 3-4. They face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week.
Florida takes on Georgia this week. The Gators are ranked for the first time in six years entering the showdown.
Both No. 17 Florida (5-2, 4-1) and No. 3 Georgia (6-1, 4-1) are still in contention for a College Football Playoff berth.
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While Florida has lost five consecutive games in the series, marking Georgia's longest win streak since a six-game run from 1978-83, the Gators are riding high after storming back from a 14-point deficit to knock off the Texas Longhorns and return to the national rankings.
The Gators, who climbed as high as No. 8 earlier in the season, fell from the polls after back-to-back losses to Missouri and South Carolina.
Saturday's Florida-Georgia game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, marking the first time the matchup has been held in the South's largest metropolitan area.
Pitts may not be at the game since the Falcons play the next day in Tampa Bay, but he will probably watch the contest.
