PFF's Make-Or-Break Player for Atlanta Falcons is Half Right

No one can deny Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts's physical traits. You don't see tight ends that can outrun just about every defender on the field with a wingspan like a pterodactyl very often. 

When the Falcons took him with the No. 4 overall pick in 2021, they made him the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history. Falcons fans look at the list of players taken after Pitts in the draft and gnash their teeth at what could have been. 

Entering his fifth and final season of his rookie contract, Pitts and the Falcons are running out of time to get a return on the investment they made, including the No. 4 overall pick and $43 million. 

Pro Football Focus (PFF) recently created a list of players who can make or break their respective teams in 2025, and for the Falcons, they chose Pitts. 

"Pitts seems to be on his last legs in Atlanta, with trade rumors floating around throughout the spring,” wrote Dalton Wasserman on PFF. “He enters the 2025 season in the final year of his rookie contract after posting a career-low 63.9 PFF receiving grade last season.

“Pitts needs to find his form as a receiver with Michael Penix Jr. now as his quarterback. If he doesn’t, the former fourth-overall pick could struggle to maintain a lengthy NFL career, especially because of his lack of blocking impact."

While this may be a make-or-break season for Kyle Pitts, it’s a stretch to say that Kyle Pitts will make or break the Atlanta Falcons. As Wasserman stated, Pitts has to be a premier threat as a receiver because he doesn’t block well. If he becomes nothing more than just another guy as a receiver, he’ll have trouble finding snaps in the NFL because of his liability as a blocker.

Pitts saw his snap counts diminish as the season wore on last year. Losing time in single-tight end sets to Charlie Woerner, who is one of the best blocking tight ends in the league. Missing OTAs and mandatory mini-camp with a foot injury didn’t do Pitts any favors this summer either.

The Falcons finished No. 6 in total offense last season despite a less-than-stellar contribution from Pitts. With the strong-armed Penix set to stretch the field, Pitts is in position to reap the benefit, or fall further down the pecking order of the Falcons’ considerable weapons on offense. 

For all of his talent, Pitts will drift in and out of games. You can almost feel the palpable frustration when he doesn't stick his foot into the turf on shorter routes. While the team still needs him, his role has changed. Drake London is the primary target, without a doubt. Meanwhile, Bijan Robinson and the run game make the offense dangerous, and Darnell Mooney knocked on the door of 1,000 yards in 2024. 

At the same time, a rather sizable role exists for a potentially game-breaking tight end. 

With a potential lucrative-new contract waiting for him at the end of the season, PFF is right, it’s a make or break year, but for Kyle Pitts. 

Kyle Pitts could help make the Falcons, but he won’t break them.