Is Kyle Pitts primed to finally shine for fantasy managers?
Yahoo Sports fantasy analysts Josh Norris and Hayden Winks discuss how the Falcons tight end may be lined up for a massive breakout campaign in 2026. Check out the full conversation on "Yahoo Fantasy Football with Josh and Hayden" - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen .
Video Transcript
Kyle Pitts is my next name here.
We're talking about- Yes the prime of our careers at tight end.
It's the age 25 season.
I was just looking at, like, what is, like, the top, I think it was, like, the top 25 tight ends since, 2000.
How old were they in these, like, peak seasons?
And the most common answer was 25 years old, which is what happens- Yeah with Kyle Pitts.
Next most was, like, 26 years old.
So we're talking about the sweet spot where he's mentally mature for the game and physically in his prime.
And I think that last part is really key with Kyle Pitts because we went for about three seasons in a row where it was very evident that he was not healthy.
But, over the last, the, his rookie season and his last year, his two healthy seasons, we're talking about a 17-game pace of almost 1,000 yards.
And I like to look at the thresholds of are you the first or second pass catcher on your team?
I think that's a definitive yes with Kyle Pitts.
I like to look at the coaching tree.
You get Kevin Stefanski, who's just been, coming from the, the tree that you always talk about with Colt McCoy, just the primary read so often.
We saw it with Harold Fant, and we saw it with David Njoku, specifically with Kevin Stefanski.
So this is just a bet on Kyle Pitts being as good of a prospect as he was.
If he hits that, we're talking about way, way, way too cheap.
If he's just really good, as a receiver, then I think that he's still too cheap.
He's, like, kind of the, to me, the, the last call of a real potential to finish, like, a top three, top four fantasy tight end.
I think that next tier, once you get to the Kelces, Kittles, l- likely that tier, not for me in terms of upside.
Kyle Pitts goes the latest of all, like, the consensus top eight tight ends on Yahoo.
That's my, one of my favorite picks that you can make.
It's kinda like when the running back prices kinda fall by the wayside, and now enter Kyle Pitts.
Yeah.
Kyle Pitts is a perfect way to end this episode.
There are a devil and an angel on either shoulder, and I can listen to either example here.
The positives tend to outweigh the negatives with Kyle Pitts here.
It's a lot of what you outlined.
It's also being top two in a very funneled offense.
That was Kevin Stefanski.
We always want pieces of that when the tight end is involved because it's streamlined and it's easier to have a top five scoring week at tight end than it is at wide receiver top five, right?
However, I look back and, you know, when Kyle Pitts is most fun, when he jumps off the screen, it's a lot of these intermediate and downfield targets.
I just want gimmes for Kyle Pitts, man.
And we got it, like, one season a couple years ago where more than ever he got, like, you know, three-yard routes, eight-yard routes, all this type of stuff, versus just 12, 15, 16.
And the stuff he was doing with Kirk Cousins last year, just mossing dudes and winging down the field.
I really hope Kevin Stefanski outlines some of the stuff that he did with Harold Fant last year and says, "Okay, I can do that stuff with Kyle Pitts."
And if that's the case, then it gives us both a floor and a ceiling on a weekly basis with Pitts.
That has been the problem in previous years.
And also, hopefully, some touchdown scoring opportunities, which has been the other problem with Kyle Pitts in previous years.
I will say from 2022 to 2024, his ADOT was 11 yards down the field, and then this last year it dropped down to, just over seven, yards- Yep down the field.
So, like, that's, that's the difference of being, like, kind of like an ex-vertical receiver- Yep versus, like, a normal tight end with just a little bit more explosiveness and a run away from you, potential.
So, like, to me, like, that's kinda like the sweet spot zone that you're talking about where you want the explosiveness, around him.
But he's not, like, not involved in, in the under- underneath stuff.
He at least got a couple screens, 9% of his, res- of his targets last year were screens, which is actually a, a above average number, even among, like, the con- consensus, like, top 15 fantasy tight ends.
So more involvement there I think has closed the gap.
I just looked at the tape and it was just like he's running by guys again.
Like, that to me is what the most important thing is in terms of ceiling.
I'm not sure if the Falcons defense is gonna be very good this year on top of it.
And they're in dome, dome games and, I can see Tua just, like, peppering them underneath, getting the ball out quickly, and all of a sudden there are more gimmes in the offense.
