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The Atlanta Falcons opened the season with a 24-10 win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 1. The Falcons forced three turnovers and leaned heavily on the run game, which was to be expected from Art Smith. The issue could lie in the passing game, where QB Desmond Ridder wasn’t able to get any of his receivers going, including TE Kyle Pitts. Here we’ll go over Pitts’ fantasy football outlook for Week 2 vs. the Green Bay Packers.
Fantasy Football analysis: Falcons TE Kyle Pitts
Pitts played 31 offensive snaps and was tied for the team lead with 20 routes run, per Pro Football Focus. He was targeted three times and had two catches for 44 yards, one going for 34 yards.
Start or sit in Week 2 PPR leagues?
Start. It’s an underwhelming Week 1 but Pitts should still be in your lineup given his upside. The script could play in his favor if the Falcons are trailing against a good Packers offense. The flip side is the Falcons just choose to run the ball a ton again. If Ridder is only throwing the ball 20-25 times a game, Pitts may not get the big-time volume to return value consistently in fantasy football. Still, he had 6.4 points in PPR in Week 1 and that performance was probably the floor. If he gets back to the norm, it should be around 8-10 PPR fantasy points.
Start or sit in Week 2 standard leagues?
This is a tougher call. I’d lean sit unless it’s a deep league and there aren’t many options available on your bench/waiver wire. Usually for a TE to be viable in standard you need volume. Clearly, that may not be the case with Ridder only throwing the ball 18 times in Week 1. Pitts would almost certainly need a TD to return value in standard.
Player(s) you would start ahead of Kyle Pitts
Pitts is ranked as the TE13 by DKN NFL Editor Chet Gresham in his tight end rankings for PPR in Week 2. Patriots TE Hunter Henry could be available on the waiver wire and is a safer option, albeit lacks upside. Henry did find the end zone in Week 1 and posted solid numbers. Lions TE Sam LaPorta was targeted more frequently and is in a more pass-happy offense than Pitts. Tyler Higbee and Zach Ertz are behind Pitts in the rankings but should see more target volume.