Kyle Pitts on the Falcons’ new leader & optimism for 2023 | Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast
The Atlanta Falcons tight end spoke to Yahoo Fantasy’s Matt Harmon about the unique skills he brings to the position, playing for head coach Arthur Smith and why fans should be excited about quarterback Desmond Ridder taking over this season. Kyle joined Yahoo Sports on behalf of the Gatorade Equity in Sports Program and their work with the Salvation Army Bellwood Boys and Girls Club in Atlanta.
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Video Transcript
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MATT HARMON: Most people with the nominal label TE, Tight End, next to their name on the roster are probably not lining up out wide and winning kind of as that traditional receiver. And you can see the plays of you doing that. Like, especially as a rookie, you see a lot of that. What do you kind of bring to the table from a technique perspective or an athletic perspective that is different than some of these other tight ends out there?
KYLE PITTS: Well, I think in general, the tight end position has changed. And it's changed over the years from back when they were just an extra tackle, I guess you'd say, or athletic tackle. But now, you have to be a hybrid and be able to do everything. So the techniques-- just be able to block inline, and also be able to get downfield and stretch the field.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, no doubt. And speaking of Arthur Smith, I kind of wanted to ask you about him because I'll be honest with you. Like, in the Fantasy Football community, he takes a lot of crap for running the ball too much, or this, that, and the other.
But he's one of my favorite offensive play callers, like, to watch on film. I think his offense is great. I love the way he calls plays. I love the way he sequences plays. I love kind of where he attacks on the field. What about playing in his offense do you really enjoy most? And kind of what is he like as a head coach?
KYLE PITTS: He's a great person, a great person off the field and on the field, you know? And then his offense is just dynamic. Everyone moves around. He's positionless. So everybody plays everything. So you know, to be able to have the opportunity to do that is awesome-- to play the inside, outside, inline, like I said earlier. And everybody's just kind of interchangeable. It makes it pretty fun.
MATT HARMON: So what you're saying is there's a lot to look forward to, right? That people can get excited to actually watch it on Sundays. And I think one of the things that's interesting about you guys-- this year, obviously, you're breaking into a new quarterback, Desmond Ridder.
He started four games last year. You were injured during those games. You know, you didn't necessarily play with him, but what is he like as a guy? What is he going to bring? What should Falcons fans be excited about with Desmond Ridder this year?
KYLE PITTS: Desmond's a leader. He's somebody who grabbed the locker room. And he kind of just told everybody what the common goal is, and everybody to get on the train. So everybody's buying into what, you know, he's preaching as the quarterback. And we're all working towards the same thing.
MATT HARMON: Working towards the same goal to win the NFC South, obviously. It's kind of a lighter division, right? I mean, if you could look at it that way from a record perspective last year, the Bucs make the playoffs. They didn't necessarily have the season they wanted.
Where do you guys see yourself right now as a very young team kind of pushing towards that goal? You have some good veterans, too. Calais Campbell-- a great guy on the defensive side of the football. But as kind of a younger team, do you guys see yourself as maybe on the come-up, and could potentially take this division over the next few years?
KYLE PITTS: I wouldn't necessarily put a timeline on it, but I'd say with the team we have, we just have the hunger to go out. And with the new quarterback, you know, it's a new team. And to be able to just go out and win every game as much as we can, and try and win a division, and then on to however far it takes us.
MATT HARMON: Very excited to talk about this program you've got going on with Gatorade here-- the Equity in Sports campaign. Tell us a little bit about that.
KYLE PITTS: Well, we partnered with Gatorade and [INAUDIBLE] to do a donation today of $25,000 to this Bellsworth Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club. It was a great time coming out here. We had a little mini camp and got a chance to meet a lot of kids, and do a lot of different drills with these kids. It was young females and males, and it was a great time.
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