Tight end Kyle Pitts did some good things for the Falcons over the first four weeks of the season, but he didn’t look like the kind of matchup nightmare many predicted he would be before Atlanta made him the fourth overall pick of this year’s draft.
Pitts provided a look at that player in Sunday’s win over the Jets in London. He caught nine passes for 119 yards, including a 39-yarder that came just after the Jets cut the Falcons’ lead to three points in the fourth quarter. Head coach Arthur Smith said “that’s why Kyle is here” after the game and quarterback Matt Ryan said he thinks it was just the first of many big performances for the rookie.
“I thought Kyle Pitts played the best game he’s played for us. . . . I told him right before I came in here that I was proud of him,” Ryan said, via the team’s website. “I think there are going to be a lot of those in the future for him.”
A breakout from Pitts would have caught notice under any circumstances, but it was all the more significant in London because wide receiver Calvin Ridley was out of the lineup. The Falcons will be hoping for more of the same with both players in the lineup in the weeks to come.