MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Over two days of joint practice with the Dolphins, Kyle Pitts appeared to be getting closer to his old form.
On one play in team drills, Pitts walled off backup Miami safety Marcus Maye on an in-breaking route, shielding him away from the ball for a hard-fought 16-yard gain. On the next drive, Kirk Cousins found Pitts wide open inside the numbers against Miami backup cornerback Elijah Campbell with Maye hovering nearby for an easy 22-yard gain. The plays were in stark contrast to his play during the first day of practice when more of Miami's starters, including both starting safeties, were on the field.
Despite the lack of top coverage, Pitts didn't seem limited and ran his routes smoothly while also utilizing his physicality against smaller defensive backs. After a year where it appeared he was lumbering and at times miscast as a downfield weapon for the Falcons, it was an impressive step in the right direction.
But Cousins isn't satisfied.
"What I'm encouraging him with is to use that length as much as he can," Cousins said on Wednesday. "Anytime he lets the ball into his body I tell him, 'That wasn't good enough, you should never let it come into your body, you're too good to let it come into your body.' So I challenge him with that, and then I don't feel like he's running as fast as he possibly can. I said, 'That wasn't good enough -- that was fast enough for a lot of other tight ends, but for you it's gotta be faster.'
"I said, 'If you do that, the production can't help but happen.' I'm just always looking for opportunities to get him running and then give him that ball where he can go snag it."
Cousins wants what Fantasy managers have been begging for: the best version possible of Pitts. Physically, he's getting there. But shouldn't he already be adept at catching passes away from his frame and "running as fast as he possibly can?"
Not only is that admission of encouragement by Cousins a little alarming, but Pitts' targets over the two days of joint practice hint that maybe he's not a cinch to dominate catches over teammates beyond Drake London.
By my count, Pitts had one fewer target (five) than Drake London (six), Bijan Robinson (six) and Darnell Mooney (six not including a defensive pass interference drawn on a deep target). To be fair, Pitts was not used on every single one of Cousins' 43 pass attempts over the two days, but none of the Falcons' skill-position players were. For example, London missed the entirety of the Falcons' 10-play drive with the two-minute offense on Day 1, and he still had one more target than Pitts.
In Pitts' favor is Cousins' track record of leaning on his tight end -- Jordan Reed in Washington for parts of four seasons, Kyle Rudolph in Minnesota for a year, then T.J. Hockenson for a couple of years. Even Tyler Conklin caught 56 of his career-high 61 passes from Cousins in 2021. Over the entirety of his career, 22.2% of his targets have gone to tight ends. He knows a thing or two about utilizing them to the best of their abilities. And yes, Pitts is clearly more functional now than he was a year ago.
This simply might come down to Cousins and the Falcons coaching staff succeeding at bringing out the best in Pitts. If they can, he'll be very good. If they can't, he'll continue to average south of 10 PPR points per game like he has in each of his first three years.
As of this writing, Pitts' average draft position in CBS Sports PPR drafts is 70.2. That's Round 6, just ahead of Evan Engram among tight ends and Christian Kirk, Calvin Ridley and Chris Godwin among wide receivers. It feels too lofty for a tight end who's still seemingly a little incomplete.
It's sensible to lower expectations for Pitts, be it because he's never been awesome for Fantasy or because of what's happening around the Falcons now. The potential for a good season remains, but we've already felt underwhelmed by Pitts' first three seasons. You might feel really silly if it happens a fourth time.
More from Falcons camp
Cousins was excited to talk about London, mentioning his aggressiveness, size and "tremendous natural hands." He compared London favorably to former college teammate B.J. Cunningham.
"I told Drake, 'You're the first-round pick version of B.J. Cunningham.' I really enjoyed playing with B.J. and his style of play. ... I think that bodes really well and I'm excited to get (him) the football."
The 6-foot-1 Cunningham led the Spartans with 79 catches, 1,306 yards and 12 touchdowns in 14 games with Cousins in 2011. If London comes anywhere close to those numbers he'll return outstanding value as a top-30 pick. He's still good in Round 2 in full-PPR.
Cousins also admitted he's still working through mastering his new playbook. He's "grateful" for the similarities in Zac Robinson's offense by comparison to what he ran in Minnesota, but he's being asked to do certain things differently. Cousins pointed out a play from practice against the Dolphins where he didn't throw on time as an example of where he's still working on understanding what's being asked of him.
As for Cousins' own play over the two days, I had him down for 30 for 43 passing for 264 yards, one touchdown (to London) and one defensive pass interference penalty drawn. He seemed to know the offense better than he gave himself credit for and really did a good job getting rid of the ball when the Dolphins pass rush got in his face on the first day of practice. You could do worse than a late-round pick on Cousins in one-QB leagues.
Bijan Robinson did indeed split first-team snaps with Tyler Allgeier over the two practices, but Robinson was the better of the two. By my count Robinson had 11 carries for at least 57 yards -- he had a great cut and a clear lane on a cutback run on Wednesday that might have been a house call if not whistled down 15 yards past the line of scrimmage. He also caught all seven of his targets for an unofficial 28 yards. Allgeier on the other hand had one physical run from the 10-yard line for a touchdown and otherwise floundered, totaling 28 yards on 14 carries over the two days. He also made some appearances with the second-team offense.
Robinson told 92.9 The Game in Atlanta this week that his split reps with Allgeier in practice was by design to keep him fresh for the season.
"Some practices I might have a couple of reps that are more so mental reps," Robinson said. "I like it because it keeps my body fresh for every single practice, every single day, so I love it man."
He remains first-round worthy, but all of the elite-level receivers feel like safer bets in full-PPR in case his sharing with Allgeier continues into the season. It's not like Allgeier has been as bad as his practice stats looked. Not even close.
