The Atlanta Falcons prepare for their Week 16 road matchup against the Arizona Cardinals following their thrilling comeback victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football. Kyle Pitts posted the best performance of his NFL career in that contest but is now dealing with a knee issue. Will fantasy football managers have their breakout tight end available this week?
Kyle Pitts Injury Update
Pitts was dealing with a knee injury leading up to last week’s game against Tampa Bay. The tight end managed the issue throughout the practice week and was listed on the injury report. Despite the knee concern, Pitts played through it and delivered the best game of his career.​
He hauled in 11 receptions for 166 yards and three touchdowns in the Thursday night victory. The performance represented a career-high in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns. Pitts dominated the Buccaneers secondary and showcased exactly why the Falcons selected him with the fourth overall pick in the 2021 draft.​
The Falcons had extended rest ahead of this week’s matchup after playing on Thursday night. Pitts was not listed on the practice report Wednesday, which suggested the knee issue had resolved following the extra recovery time. However, he showed up Thursday as limited with the knee issue.​
There has been no update from the team or reporters regarding the knee injury. It is unclear if this is a new injury, an aggravation of the previous one, or simply rest for a player coming off a career performance. The timing and lack of information make it difficult to assess the severity.​
Friday’s practice will be key to determining Pitts’ status for Sunday. If Pitts is present in any capacity, he should be fine to play on Sunday. Even a limited designation on Friday would indicate the knee is manageable and he is on track to suit up.​
If he does not participate at all on Friday, it means the injury occurred at Thursday’s practice and will almost certainly keep him out of Sunday’s game. A complete absence on Friday after being limited Thursday would be a significant red flag. That pattern typically signals a setback that occurred during practice rather than a planned maintenance day.​
Pitts’ Fantasy Outlook
Well, that was something.
I don’t want to say that Pitts took the intrigue out of your playoff matchup last Thursday night, but there’s a good chance he did just that.
11 catches on 12 targets
166 yards
3 touchdowns
45.6 PPR points
Have yourself a day, good sir!
He did the first name proud and clearly wasn’t hampered in the least by the knee injury that was noted on the injury report during the week. Pitts hauled in a 13-yard pass on the first drive, a 26 yarder on the second drive, capped that second drive with an eight-yard TD that almost never came to pass (Atlanta elected to take a field goal off the board because of a penalty on Tampa Bay), and we were off to the races.
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By halftime, he had already set a career high in fantasy points (29.1) and on the final drive, his 14-yard catch on third-and-28 will be forgotten, but without it, I can’t imagine that the Falcons go on to win this game (21-yard completion to David Sills V on fourth-and-14).
In totality, he became the first TE this season with 80+ receiving yards in three straight games, posted the fourth best fantasy playoff game, regardless of position, since we went to the 18-game schedule in 2021, and registered the most points by a TE in a fantasy playoff game this millennium.
So yea, there’s a chance your matchup was over before the weekend.
He’s earned at least a 25% target share in all four games since this season became Cousins’ to finish and that volume is what you should fall in love with as we near the finish line. The touchdowns obviously made Thursday night special, but we know those can be fleeting for the best in the game, nevermind a profile like this (11 touchdowns in 74 career games prior to last week).
Pitts isn’t likely to post another historic performance this weekend and carry your team, but he does offer one of the five best roles at the position right now and that puts him in position to help your team in a huge way for a fourth straight game.
I can’t wait to see where his ADP falls in August after nearly four straight underwhelming seasons and this sprint to the finish with a QB that likely won’t be on the roster.
— PFSN Fantasy Analyst Kyle Soppe
