Yahoo Fantasy analyst Matt Harmon is joined by Yahoo Sports NFL reporter Charles McDonald to discuss the Falcons tight end’s disappointing 2022 campaign and why fantasy managers can’t overlook him as he returns from a season-ending knee injury. Hear the full conversation on the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.

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Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

MATT HARMON: Kyle Pitts went fourth overall in 2021. I think that we should certainly still keep hope that Kyle Pitts is going to be-- I don't know about worth the fourth overall pick, Charles. But obviously you're a Falcons fan. You could speak better to this than me.

But I think a lot of the disappointment with Kyle Pitts last year has less to do with Kyle Pitts himself. Marcus Mariota might have been, like, the worst non-Zach Wilson starting quarterback in the NFL last year. Agree or disagree?

CHARLES MCDONALD: I mean, it was in that territory. I got to say, the Kyle Pitts, some of the discussions I see, just on Twitter, blow my mind.

MATT HARMON: Yeah.

CHARLES MCDONALD: It's absurd to me that people are already down on this guy. How short are our memories?

MATT HARMON: Right.

[LAUGHTER]

CHARLES MCDONALD: It's not like he's had-- it's not like he had a bad start to his NFL career. The first year he played, he--

MATT HARMON: 1,000 yards.

CHARLES MCDONALD: He had 1,000 yards, yes. So I don't understand where the downswing on Kyle Pitts' public opinion has really come from. Because I look at it as he's, what, a 22-year-old freak of nature, that has already shown he can be one-- one of the most terrifying receiving weapons in the league?

And with the Marcus Mariota thing, it's not even just, like, he was a bad quarterback for the Falcons. It kind of felt like he had a vendetta out for Kyle Pitts, as far as what those passes were looking like when they were coming his way. But there's two that really stick out in my mind. It's, like, the first or second play in their game against Seattle--

MATT HARMON: Oh, my god. I can picture it.

CHARLES MCDONALD: They got Kyle Pitts wide open, like 60 yards down the field. And Mariota just way overthrew him. And he had a clean pocket, too.

And then there's another play against Carolina, where they're playing on Thursday night, where Kyle Pitts is coming up around the crossing route, and Mariota just throws it way over his head. And it's like, if you watch the games, I don't think that Kyle Pitts was even a different player than he was the year before.

So look, he's just, to me, is still as talented as any receiving weapon in the league. And I would expect him to have a huge bounce-back campaign this year, if he can stay healthy. That's really the only thing I'll be concerned about.

MATT HARMON: Yeah. I think he's a bit of a victim of his own hype, too, as he was so-- so hyped up as a unicorn prospect. But I agree with you. If you watched the Falcons last year, Arthur Smith actually did a great job of getting Kyle Pitts free down the field. But he just had one of the worst downfield passers in the NFL.

Which also is kind of tough to square that it took them so long to go to Desmond Ridder, but now they're just, like, locked into Desmond Ridder. That's a tough thing to square there. But we'll save all the Falcons' misery for another time.

CHARLES MCDONALD: Yeah, locked into Desmond Ridder, while also meeting with all quarterbacks not named Bryce Young.

MATT HARMON: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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