Falcons' Kyle Pitts is in shockingly impressive spot in NFL TE history

Billy Heyen

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Falcons' Kyle Pitts is in shockingly impressive spot in NFL TE history image

Kyle Pitts has mostly been viewed as a disappointment.

The Atlanta Falcons tight end had a fantastic rookie season in 2021, but since then, he's never quite looked like that player again.

Last Thursday night, though, Pitts had the game of his life, and it served as a reminder of his remarkable talent. It may have made him a lot of money, too, given that he's an upcoming free agent.

The big night also placed Pitts on an NFL record board that one wouldn't necessarily overlap with the idea of a disappointment.

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Pitts has the fifth-most receiving yards ever by a tight end before turning 26 years old. And Pitts won't turn 26 until next October.

Here's the list:

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Those are four of the best tight ends in the history of the football.

Pitts has played more games to reach that yardage than Winslow and Gronk, according to Stewart, but he has still played fewer games than Witten or Tony G, so he's not just taking advantage of differing sample sizes.

The NFL world will have to decide this offseason whether Pitts can still be that standout player that he was as a rookie, and that he just was again on Thursday night, or if he's more like the intriguing but inconsistent player he was from 2022-24. 

Either way, though, Pitts' numbers are actually quite impressive when you consider the context.

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Staff Writer