Record-breaker! Kyle Pitts selected in first round of 2021 NFL Draft
By SDS Staff
Published:
Tight end? Playmaker? Matchup nightmare?
Call Florida star Kyle Pitts whatever you want, but add this descriptor, too: first-rounder.
Pitts, listed as a tight end but playing more like an updated Calvin Johnson, was selected No. 4 overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. This with the 8th time in 9 years that Florida produced at least 1 first-round pick.
Pitts was the first non-quarterback to be taken in the draft, and was believed by many to be the best overall prospect in this draft class.
It was a foregone conclusion that that Pitts would become the SEC’s earliest tight end selection in NFL Draft history, replacing Alabama’s O.J. Howard (No. 19 in 2017). It was just a matter of where in the top 10 he would go.
Pitts caught 12 TD passes for the Gators this past season, frequently beating double coverage with his physicality or verticality. But he helped clear space for others as well, either as a decoy drawing multiple defenders or as an improved blocker in the run game.
He won’t be able to run by NFL safeties, but his size and hands will ensure that he spends more time out wide than with his hand in the dirt in a traditional set.
Saturday Down South reports and comments on the news around the Southeastern Conference as well as larger college football topics.
