Welcome to Week 10 of the 2022 NFL season! Thursday Night Football isn’t the most interesting matchup this week, as the 2-7 Carolina Panthers look for revenge against the 4-5 Atlanta Falcons. These two teams just faced off two weeks ago, ending in a 37-34 victory for Atlanta.
Fantasy football managers are gearing up for the playoffs and looking for any advantage they can find. One playmaker in the spotlight to produce is Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts. Let’s dive into whether you should start Pitts against the Panthers.
Should You Start Kyle Pitts vs. the Panthers?
This season has been nothing but a shocking disappointment for Pitts. Coming off a monstrous rookie season that had managers drafting Pitts as the third tight end off the board, Pitts ranks as TE19 after Week 9. He’s averaging 25 yards fewer per game than he did last year, though he has reached the end zone once more already.
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As the Falcons are in a dogfight for the NFC South, your fantasy football season is never over on Underdog Fantasy. Consider taking the higher on Pitts’ receiving yards line on Underdog Fantasy for a deposit bonus of up to $100. Let’s dive into why that’s a good pick.
With only two weeks in which he produced more than 27 yards receiving, Pitts is an extremely difficult player to project as far as when his next breakout will arrive. The Falcons not only run an inefficient passing game, but they barely throw the ball at all. By opting to roll with Marcus Mariota and a run-dominant attack, head coach Arthur Smith chose to waste a season of Pitts and Drake London.
Mariota’s presence has helped create a great rushing game but his play as a quarterback has been unsurprisingly poor. He attempts only 22 passes for 173.4 yards on average. The Falcons don’t bother throwing deep despite the large catch radius that Pitts and London offer as a safe haven.
Pitts is currently ranked at TE7 in our Week 10 PPR Fantasy Football Rankings. He had his best fantasy game of the season two weeks ago against this same Carolina defense. He tied his season-high with five catches and produced 80 yards and a touchdown.
We certainly hope the touchdowns continue. He has two in the last month, alternating weeks in which he scores. Pitts didn’t score last week against Los Angeles so hopefully, for his managers, this trend continues.
The matchup is clearly favorable, even if he doesn’t reach the end zone. Even though the Panthers are one of the stronger defenses in the league against tight ends, they’re bad against receivers. Pitts is rarely used as a traditional in-line tight end and has no peer when it comes to athleticism at the position. It’s better to compare him to a receiver.
Pitts’ Underdog’s projected receiving line of 39.5 is a tough one. While he did easily clear it two weeks ago, it’s also possible the Panthers adjust their strategy after giving up 37 points last matchup. I favor the higher, but it’s not a strong play for me because the offense simply does not have a reliable passing attack.
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If he goes lower, fantasy managers will be banking on Pitts reaching the end zone to be a startable option. I would still start Pitts since he can get the job done with yards or scoring, but he’s also not a lock of a play if you have a high-end streaming option. The tight end position has been strange this year, so it’s also fine if Pitts is your undisputed TE1 in a favorable matchup.
