Former Falcons WR Thinks Pitts Hasn't Been Positioned To Succeed

Former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White shared his thoughts on why he believes Atlanta Falcons tight end has not lived up to his expectations earlier on Tuesday on 680 The Fan. 

He felt the lack of success was more on the team than it was on the player. 

“I think we just haven’t put him in position to excel,” White said.

Pitts has been in the league for four years and already has had five different starting quarterbacks. Injuries also sidelined him for seven games back in 2022, and it was reported that he played the entire 2023 season while he was not fully recovered. 

When Pitts was fully healthy in 2021, his rookie season, and had the same starting quarterback for a full 17 games, he put up over 1,000 receiving yards and made the Pro Bowl. 

However, White thinks an even bigger issue than quarterback play for Pitts has simply been how he is being utilized. 

“When I look at him, he has such a basketball body type and then you look at the basketball tight ends that have come through the NFL that have a lot of success, and what they do, they always are in the seam… Stuff like that, where you can use your body to actually, you know, get where you need to be. And I don’t think we’ve done a very good job of just running those plays that he could be good at,” White said. 

White thinks that if Pitts can get going and make plays, he can take the Atlanta Falcons offense to another level. 

White spent 11 years with the Falcons and recorded 808 catches for 10,863 yards and 63 touchdowns, along with four Pro Bowls and one first-team All-Pro. He ranks second all-time in Atlanta Falcons history for receiving yards and receptions, trailing only Julio Jones. He is first all-time in receiving touchdowns.

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