'Mr. Personality': Falcons TE Kyle Pitts 'Hungry,' Thriving in Training Camp

Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts is going to "showcase the Unicorn he really is," receiver Drake London said.

Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts has starred in training camp. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- When Atlanta Falcons tight ends coach Kevin Koger hosts his star player, Kyle Pitts, for one-on-one meetings, he doesn't need a knock on the office door to know Pitts has arrived.

Koger hears Pitts walking down the hallway -- the 23-year-old's music, with a taste Koger described as "very interesting," is blaring from his phone. Pitts likes to crack jokes, so Koger readies himself with a quip of his own.

This is the version of Pitts many don't see.

"He's Mr. Personality," Koger told Atlanta Falcons on SI at training camp. "You can hear Kyle coming before you see him."

But the Falcons have seen Pitts plenty this summer. Koger and Pitts have met at 7 a.m. during camp to go over the practice script and discuss plays that weren't run the day before. Pitts texts Koger at night, wanting to set up more times for personalized meetings.

Pitts is eager to get in extra work, which Koger said underlines his intentionality and commitment to having a resurgent 2024 season. Pitts's teammates have seen it, too.

"Ever since the offseason, he's always had that edge," running back Tyler Allgeier said. "He's been doing his thing, just balling."

Throughout the spring and summer, Pitts frequented the walls of Falcons headquarters in Flowery Branch. He attended all voluntary sessions, went to Tampa for a chemistry-building day trip with quarterback Kirk Cousins and other teammates, and held a charity event in Atlanta before returning for camp.

Inside the building, Pitts was busy. For as much he was heard, he was also seen quite often by head coach Raheem Morris, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson and Koger. The trio held several sit-down conversations with Pitts about his role in Robinson's offense.

Robinson emphasized to Pitts the need to be a complete tight end -- as a blocker as much as in the passing game. Koger's message followed a similar path.

"I'm like, 'Man, your success this year isn't going to be measured off the metrics. What we expect out of you and what you expect out of yourself -- if you do those things, then the stats will come,'" Koger said.

When Pitts was a rookie in 2021, stats did, in fact, come. After arriving as the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history at No. 4 overall, Pitts caught 68 passes for 1,026 yards and a touchdown in 17 games. He set a franchise rookie record for receiving yards and ranked No. 2 all-time amongst rookie tight ends, trailing Mike Ditka's 1961 record by 50 yards.

But over the past two years, Pitts has encountered rocky roads, battling quarterback inconsistency and injury troubles that prevented him from returning to his rookie-season form.

In 2022, Pitts made just 28 receptions for 356 yards and two touchdowns across 10 games before tearing both the MCL and PCL in his right knee. He saw 59 targets, but at the time of his injury, he led the NFL in rate of uncatchable passes at 59 percent from quarterback Marcus Mariota, according to Pro Football Focus.

Pitts played all 17 games in 2023, but he was never fully healthy. Out for OTAs and minicamp last summer, Pitts eased into practice during training camp. By the start of the 2023 season, he still wasn't 100 percent, and never reached that number as hits and losses took a toll on him.

Pitts said the games weren't bad -- the adrenaline and prep work made Sundays easier -- but the weekly grind of recovering and questioning if he'd be able to play was taxing.

The former University of Florida standout finished the season with 53 receptions for 667 yards and three touchdowns on 90 targets. He caught passes from two different quarterbacks in Desmond Ridder, who was benched on two separate occasions, and Taylor Heinicke.

After his 1,026-yard rookie season, Pitts totaled just 1,023 yards and had only 13 more receptions in 27 games from 2022-23.

Still, the Falcons picked up the fifth-year option on Pitts's rookie contract, giving him two more seasons to deliver on the promise he showed in 2021. During OTAs, Pitts called himself a "super rookie," learning a new playbook and quarterback while being surrounded by only one returning face -- John FitzPatrick -- in the tight ends room.

Now, Pitts is hopeful his super-rookie status nets similar production to his actual rookie campaign. It's a goal Robinson sees at the forefront of Pitts's mind.

"He's hungry," Robinson said. "He wants to get back to the player he knows he is. I know injuries played a big part of that too. But Kyle's been great -- we're throwing a lot at him (and) he's handled it really well. So, really pleased with where he's at right now. It's just going to continue to build."

Apart from injuries, quarterback play was the biggest downfall for Pitts and Atlanta's offense. So, Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot prioritized it this offseason, giving Cousins a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed.

Pitts wanted Cousins this spring. While Cousins was on a family trip to Disney World, Pitts called him and offered a recruiting pitch. They stayed in touch for the next few weeks before Cousins became a Falcon, and the two have since grown close.

In addition to signing the four-time Pro Bowl signal caller, Atlanta drafted his eventual successor, Michael Penix Jr., at No. 8 overall a month and a half later. Owner Arthur Blank said Tuesday the team has lived through not having a franchise quarterback for the past two years and doesn't want to do it again -- which only benefits Pitts.

Beyond the leadership and poise Cousins provides, his ability to get through progressions is something Pitts hasn't seen since catching passes from Matt Ryan in 2021. It's no coincidence that was his best year as a professional.

Robinson mentioned during OTAs that because of the quick reads Cousins makes, Pitts may finish games with seven catches while only being the primary target on three of them. Cousins reiterated this Wednesday, saying Pitts has seen the ball in camp despite being No. 3 in the progression pattern on some plays because Cousins is getting through his reads.

Cousins has also brought attention to detail and an innate understanding of what -- and how -- he wants certain route concepts to look. He corrects his own mistakes, pointing out where he needs to be better, from ball placement to timing and sticking with his initial read.

Pitts and Cousins talk each day about their reps. They're roommates in the Falcons' training camp dorms at IBM Performance Field, and while Cousins goes to bed much earlier, they still find time to go over the practice script and review film.

This is the intentionality Koger referenced with the 6-foot-6, 247-pound Pitts, who has been on full-go since arriving for camp. Cousins, in his first summer spending extensive time with Pitts, also sees it.

"He's working hard," Cousins said. "I love the way he's showing up right now in our pass game. He's a friendly target with his size, and he's got great movement skills. We're going to ask him to do a variety of things running routes. He's run a lot of different routes.

"I think we're going to distribute the ball all around, and I think he's going to keep showing up for us."

Through the first two sessions of padded one-on-one drills, Pitts has made easy work of Atlanta's safeties. He won three consecutive reps against DeMarcco Hellams on Tuesday, and convincingly beat reigning All-Pro Jessie Bates III on a goal line fade Wednesday.

Kyle Pitts and Jessie Bates III. Good on good.

Raheem Morris went up to Kyle Pitts, joking, “Hey Kyle, let him know his Madden rating won’t help him out here.” 😅 pic.twitter.com/R6inIMLBH5

— Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) July 31, 2024

Even before then, Allgeier noticed a different Pitts. He's been saucy, mobile and loose, Allgeier said, and has emerged as an important factor in team 11-on-11 drills.

Koger said it's pleasant seeing Pitts receive praise for his start to camp, but he still has work to do. On Tuesday, Pitts dropped a would-be touchdown in the endzone from Cousins during 11-on-11s.

Yet for the most part, it's so far, so good for Pitts and Atlanta's new-look aerial attack.

"I think him feeling good freaking brings the best for everyone," Allgeier said.

***

Pitts took his stance. Cousins scanned the defense. Center Drew Dalman lowered his head and snapped the ball, starting the play.

But as Cousins went through his reads, Pitts wasn't one of the options. Instead, Pitts had his knees bent and arms extended, blocking outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie.

While an uncommon rep, it was a sign of the message Robinson told Pitts months prior: Blocking, be it in the pass or run game, is important to his role under the new staff. And thus far, Pitts has embraced it.

"Kyle's a good run blocker," Robinson said. "He's been wanting it and he's taken the fundamentals and the techniques that Coach Koger and Patrick Kramer in that room are coaching. I think he's had great strides the first day in pads, but you could see even the intentionality in the walkthroughs -- he's trying to get the right technique going.

"So, that's been really encouraging. We know what he can do in the pass game and the more versatile he can be for the offense as a blocker, the better off we're all going to be."

Ebiketie added Pitts has improved "a lot" as a blocker, and the two make each other better in an iron-sharpens-iron manner.

Koger said he thinks a key reason in Pitts's blocking growth is health and confidence in his knee -- and, as Robinson also mentioned, a mindset built on proving he's more than just an oversized receiver.

"You can see the twitch and explosion as he comes off the football," Koger said. "A lot of it from our position in blocking is want-to and will, and he has that. And he has a long lever, so he'll be just fine. A lot of it too is technique and putting him in positions that he may not have been in the past and just getting better at that.

"But he has the want-to and the will, so he'll be just fine."

Robinson spent the last five years working on the Los Angeles Rams' offense, which fielded an NFL-high 93.1 percent of 11 personnel -- three receiver looks -- in 2023. The Falcons, conversely, ran 11 personnel a league-low 15.5 percent.

[RELATED: Inside Zac Robinson's Falcons Offense: Speed, Shifts & Controlled Chaos]

Part of the reason for the discrepancy is Atlanta used Pitts heavily in the slot, which mitigated the need to have a true inside receiver on the field.

But the Falcons revamped their wideout room this spring, adding speed and playmaking around No. 1 target Drake London. They started with Darnell Mooney, who signed a three-year, $39 million contract after playing four years with the Chicago Bears, and added several other complementary assets, headlined by Ray-Ray McCloud and Rondale Moore.

Sparked by a deeper group and a new coordinator who hails from an 11-personnel background, the Falcons figure to play three wide receivers much more often this fall.

And with that comes new responsibilities for Pitts -- including more time attached to the line of scrimmage.

"Kyle's going to have to play in-line more," Koger said. "He plays tight end, and things that we're asking the tight ends to do, he's going to have to do -- blocking on the line of scrimmage in pass protection, whether it is 11 or 12 personnel.

"So, you'll see him in-line, putting his hands on people, putting his face in the fan because that's what the job calls for."

As Pitts has expanded his repertoire on the field, he's done the same off it. He became a father last November. He's emerged as a leader in the Falcons' locker room -- so much that second-year left guard Matthew Bergeron noted Pitts's impact alongside a pair of decade-tenured starters in Cousins and left tackle Jake Matthews.

Pitts is more vocal and present around the facility than in years past, leading with his words as much as his actions -- a process that starts when he puts one slide-wearing foot in front of the other as music booms from his phone.

Armed with frequent smiles and a clean bill of health, "Mr. Personality" has enjoyed a strong summer in Flowery Branch -- and the Falcons think it will translate to a bounce-back year on the gridiron this fall.

"He's going to do his thing," London said. "I can't wait for him to get out and showcase the Unicorn he really is."