Don't Draft Kyle Pitts: Fantasy Football 2022

Yes, you read the title right. Don’t draft Kyle Pitts. Don’t hear what I’m not saying, though. Kyle Pitts is a fantastic player and will produce on the field. My main caveat is his current average draft position (ADP). Pitts is currently the TE3 off the board in both Underdog Fantasy(32.1) and Sleeper(27.8). (If you didn’t know, we are actually partnered with Underdog. Click our hyperlink right here and use the code: FFLW.) He is landing somewhere from the middle of the third round to the first pick of the fourth. Kyle Pitts needs to have a Travis Kelce-esque season in order to provide a proper return on investment. Do I believe Pitts can achieve that during his career? Yes, but do I think it is going to happen in 2022? Not at all. Don’t draft Kyle Pitts.

Points Per Game

Kyle Pitts averaged 10.4 PPG in 2021. (I talk about why points per game matter when drafting in my most recent How To Fantasy Football article. Go check it out!) His lack in touchdowns were to his detriment in the points category. Kyle Pitts ranked eight in red zone targets at the tight end position with 16 on the season. Six of those were completed and only one resulted in a score. With questions at the quarterback position, and Drake London arriving in Atlanta, I’ll take the under on 16 targets happening again.

Someone with a relative ADP to Pitts is Mike Evans. Evans averaged 16.4 PPG last year and looks to be the number one option in a Tom Brady led offense once again. Evans has solidified himself as a stellar option at wide receiver and will continue to win fantasy leagues. Eliminate the question marks and draft Evans over Pitts.

Mike Evans teammate, Leonard Fournette, is sitting pretty in the middle of the third round. Fournette has claimed the backfield to himself in Tampa Bay and has the same perks that come with being a part of the Tom Brady offense. Scoring 18.2 PPG in 2021, Fournette is a legitimate top 10 running back going into the year. One more running back being selected right after Fournette is Ezekiel Elliott. The Cowboys star back finds himself coming off a injury riddled year, but still managed to play all 17 games. He finished with 14.8 PPG and is up to speed once again. I would take both running backs ahead of Pitts on draft day.

Tight ends that I prefer to draft later on that may net you similar results include the following:

Zach Ertz: 10.6 PPG in 2021. Sleeper ADP (90.6) / Underdog ADP (109.3)
Dallas Goedert: 10.9 PPG. Sleeper (75.5) / Underdog (97.2)
Cole Kmet: 7.1 PPG. Sleeper (121) / Underdog (138.3) —> Click here to read my article about why I love Kmet so much.

“But He’s A Big Wide Receiver”

Kyle Pitts showed us what it means to be a versatile weapon. I saw a unreal stat on twitter that I will share. Pitts lined up out wide or in the slot on 78% of snaps, which was the was first among tight ends, per PFF. This is a great argument for drafting Kyle Pitts, but I already mentioned the main reason this won’t happen again.

Why Kyle Pitts will be a fantasy cheat code for years to come:
✅ 78% of snaps lined out wide or in slot (1st among TEs per PFF)
✅ 1188 air yards in 2021 (2nd)
✅ 11.2 ADOT (1st), 4th in TE routes run, 4.44 forty, 2.7 pass block %.
Really just a WR who qualifies as a TE. pic.twitter.com/W4ur6SuPbv
— Kyle Lindemann (@LuckIsMadeFF) July 5, 2022

The Falcons drafted Drake London at eighth overall during the 2022 NFL Draft. You don’t draft a 6 foot, 4 inches tall wide out to play anything other than… out wide. They also traded for Bryan Edwards, who I’m not claiming is anything special, but immediately slides into the WR2/Z role. Next on the depth chart comes Olamide Zaccheaus. Some of you may not know the name, but he is a 5 foot, 8 inch slot wide receiver. Pitts may very well be the number one target, but those wide receiver-like numbers may come to a slow halt. I’m projecting him to lineup out wide or in the slot on about 60-65% of snaps. For him to maintain his worth in the third round, we need to see a huge spike in efficiency. The aforementioned, questionable quarterback play may prove to hinder rather than help.