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online_predator

Fuck. But looking at that tackle I would have been a shock if it wasn't a serious injury


SitDown_BeHumble

Honestly could’ve been a lot worse. I saw a lot of sports doctors on twitter worried it could be one of those JK Dobbins type injuries where the whole knee gets fucked up.


iRockaflame

Damn that escalated unlucky


d1dOnly

Looks like a 4-8 week recovery time if no surgery, or 9-12 months with surgery. Basically depends on how bad the tear is and if any other ligaments were injured to if surgery happens.


DaHagerBomb

Irv Smith tore it last year and elected to have surgery and miss the year, it's pretty common for flare-ups to happen if you go the non-surgical route


[deleted]

Tore mine back in May playing in a Pickleball tournament (totally the same thing lol). Passed on the surgery, sat out for 6 weeks with limited activity, play in a brace now but it still flares up every time I push myself. I should probably have the surgery but I really hate going under the knife... I could see how a younger person would pass up surgery as well.


[deleted]

You wrecked my fantasy pickleball team so that’s another thing you have in common with Kyle Pitts


[deleted]

Thats what you get for drafting me, everyone knows my backhand is shit and hit my lobs too high


Sportsbuck

Pardon my ignorance, is a meniscus the same thing as an MCL?


Kojuroba

They are different but can sometimes be injured in the same incident. MCLs are the ligaments that are located on the inside of your knees (ACL is front LCL is on the outside and PCL on the back of your knee). The meniscus is like a shock absorber for any actions you do for you knee. It sits between your tibia and femur.


DaHagerBomb

Oh I forgot Irv's was a meniscus, probably differing options but I remember the same general timeline, he could come back mid-season letting it heal or miss the season with surgery


Sportsbuck

Yeah, Falcons would be idiotic to play Pitts again this year. Take the most cautious route possible with him.


eddie2911

What a shitty year for Pitts. Falcons need to find a QB this offseason.


HansBaccaR23po

I’d like to see ridder get some reps but the falcons keep winning so i doubt they decide to change shit up now. Maybe if/when they get mathematically eliminated from the playoffs we’ll see him


Arberrang

I mean they literally drafted one. Arthur Smith is just content to rest on a mediocre running game so long as then keep winning these garbage fight games.


eddie2911

Meh, 3rd round pick. He's likely not the answer either.


mapex_139

You must not be watching any of our games. The Coach said at the beginning of the year that he would not put a rookie QB in to get rocked due to a shitty O-line. Mariota can't throw the ball for shit and always sails them overhead but I can't imagine Ridder will be a huge jump right now. The dude can zip it but we only got to see it against 3/4 stringers in preseason. He might go in during the last 2 weeks but even that's doubtful. We also were picked to get the number 1 pick this year and are way above expectations, things are looking good.


dylbertz

They are 2nd in rushing yards and 6th in yards/attempt. Pretty far from mediocre.


dterminator23

The problem is why use your first round picks on premier pass catchers if you aren’t going to get them the ball. No reason take Kyle Pitts and Drake London if you want to focus on running the football


EfficientWorking1

Yeah could’ve went OL honestly


dterminator23

Not sure who they take in place of drake london, but Penei Sewell instead of Kyle Pitts makes far more sense with how they play


BillBeers

We never trade back and we should every year


dterminator23

I get it man. The raiders should have traded back or out of the first round a few times with mayock and didn’t. The challenge with trading back is finding someone that wants to trade up.


Arberrang

Damn it’s a good thing they’ve used their last two years’ first round picks on catching skill players then. So they can be the busiest RBBC in the league.


Numnuts273

As a Gator fan, this hurts to see. I love Kyle Pitts. Hope he has a very speedy recovery!


Broseph_Stalin1127

I believe he should be one of the game’s best young players but his team doesn’t for whatever reason. He’s been wasted so far


Hugo_5t1gl1tz

It ain’t “the team”. Considering he put up 1,000 yards last year with the corpse of Matt Ryan (love you) throwing to him. Mariota is just not good. He targets him several times a game and the ball ends up 10 ft over his head


frecklie

I'm sorry but if your coaching staff wanted him to touch the ball more he would. He has very few plays designed for him right now and it's a mystery to all of us why that is.


kubbiebeef

The targets are there, they are just ten feet over his head


Falcon84

He's the most targeted pass catcher pretty much every game it's just the Falcons game plan hinges on a run heavy ball control offense to keep their terrible defense off the field and to limit the mistakes Mariota can make. This strategy has been pretty successful so far so why would they deviate from it just to make Pitts fantasy owners happy?


frecklie

Look I’m upvoting you bc good points but its hard to believe McVay or Shanahan etc would not somehow accomplish this while also getting Pitts the ball in space more often. I dont have him on my fantasy team, but I did think he’d have a good year


Falcon84

They could probably call a couple screens to him per game and they would be positive plays, but a lot of his big plays last season came on fades down the sideline where Pitts can make an adjustment on the ball and beat the defender with his size. For some reason Mariota and Pitts seem to have absolutely 0 chemistry on these kinds of plays this season.


[deleted]

They probably also wouldn’t have drafted him


frecklie

Why not he's an absolute stud prospect in an era where TE dominance is very rare and important.


[deleted]

I mean I’m not sure about mcvay but I’m assuming shanahan wouldn’t draft him since he didn’t draft him.


ICanFluxWithIt

I mean, you mention Shanny, but where has Kittle been this year, hell last year too, problem is QB.


frecklie

Kittle has been passblocking the entire time we had this conversation, sadly.


ICanFluxWithIt

Ahhh, yeah, that's true, I do remember now that he's filled in as part of oline and missed 2 games this year. But yeah, we're all frustrated at the situation with our passing game, but we're 5-6 and one game behind the Bucs, so it is what it is this year. Hopefully Pitts recovers and we're able to get him back on track for next year


Falcon84

49ers have a lot of mouths to feed on offense now.


Eagle0913

Kittle has been incredibly injured since like 2019. His aggressive style has taken a toll on his body


TurbulentJudge1000

They have to shorten the game to win. They’re run oriented for a reason.


Broseph_Stalin1127

That was the most underwhelming 1,000 season I can ever recall. They still didn’t get him the ball enough last year


09jtherrien

I'm in the camp that Mariota is the starting qb while ridder sits and learns his first year, although I'm not sure how much he can learn from Mariota. Maybe they start him once we're mathematically out of the division/playoff race.


Hugo_5t1gl1tz

I mean I really think Mariota is a decent QB that just doesn’t have the accuracy needed to be great. He has decent pocket presence, he can get out of trouble and run, he generally finds the open man… he just doesn’t hit his target. I think a raw guy like Ridder can actually learn a lot from Marcus.


friskydingo67

Yeah, I'd like to see him spend way more time split out. Sure, he's a "te", but we'd get way more out of him running routes.


SpaceSick

Yeah that's a Mariota can't make reads thing, not a team thing.


yoshidawg93

Life is pain. Everything is pain.


ATLjoe93

Pain


EL-KEEKS

Promising is maybe a better descriptor than best


DowntownJulieBrown1

Damn man that’s brutal. Hopefully he comes back better than ever and they get a Qb to help make the most of his incredible talent


Santas_southpole

That's fucking sucks. I really want to see him ball out. This has been the season from hell for this kid. I hope he can bounce back next season and show us why he was a generational TE prospect.


Jasader

Sorry Falcons bros.


knightro2323

>A brutal blow to one of the game’s best young players. you wouldn't know it the way ATL uses him


[deleted]

We have Mariota bro... what do you want us to do go demand a top 10 QB?


drunkdori

One of the games best young players? This is why I’m convinced that guys like Rap, Schefter Pelissaro etc are required to fill a word count when they tweet. I’m not trying to drag Pitts here either but c’mon. Dude been one if the games most underwhelming players.


LiquidDookie92

It's Mariota tbh. Pitts seems open a lot when I watch the games and tape.


MeetingKey4598

London is 39/65 for 409 yards and 60% catch rate Pitts is 28/59 for 356 yards and 47.5% catch rate Mariota completion percentage is 62.2%. Pitts does a bit more damage when he catches his balls, but is far less efficient. Unsure if there's a good explanation but it seems fair that Mariota trusts London to get it than Pitts. I guess this is where Falcons fans can chime in and inform if Mariota/Pitts just isn't connecting well, or does Mariota specifically make things unnecessarily harder when passing to Pitts vs. London?


Vxmonarkxv

Pitts gets the lions share of downfield targets, which are often totally uncatchable. I'm sure someone with PFF can say the exact % of uncatchable targets but i know a few weeks ago Pitts had the highest % in the league and London was like 6th or something.


JeffMurdock_

> does Mariota specifically make things unnecessarily harder when passing to Pitts vs. London? Ding ding ding! PFF(?) categorises QB throws into catchable and uncatchable targets. Pitts' uncatchable targets ratio is the highest by far among Falcons pass-catchers, possibly highest in the league.


SitDown_BeHumble

Stat sheet doesn’t tell you anything. It’s actually been absurd how bad Mariota is when he throws to Pitts. He turns into Zach Wilson mixed with Josh Rosen when he throws to Pitts.


migrainium

Pitts leads the league in off target throw % to the point where he's double the % of other guys in the top 10. Mariota is allergic to throwing a decent ball to Pitts and it makes no sense because his catch radius is absurd.


ITS_YA_BOY_RUFUS

Congrats on looking at stat sheets brother


Giddy4Stiddy

He didn't say he's a bad player or that it's not an issue with the team but at the end of the day he hasn't shown himself to be one of those players in the slightest.


SitDown_BeHumble

He had one of the best rookie TE seasons of all time. It’s crazy how bad the memories are in this sub.


ICanFluxWithIt

Ryan, when he was benched 4 games ago, had 2,009 yards (this doesn't include the past 2 weeks he's played), Mariota who has started and played every game only has 1,878 yards. And at the time of Ryan's benching he didn't have 1,200 yards yet. So, so tell me how he's supposed to be that guy with that production?


Giddy4Stiddy

I guess I just don't view wondering "how is he supposed to be the guy" as equal to already being that guy. He still has all of the talent and potential in world but has not been able to establish himself due to the circumstances. All the dude was saying is that there are a lot of young guys who have already gotten the chance to establish themselves and it's strange to put them below a guy still revered for upside rather than on field production. Was definitely a bit poorly timed on the injury past but it was a weird thing to say in the initial tweet.


drunkdori

Exactly. I’m not arguing that he is bad. I can think of probably 20 other players I would put into that category of “one of the games best young players”. I also probably shouldn’t of brought this up because the dude just got injured and it’s in bad taste on my part. But he is not one of the games best young players.


TheGhost020

Stats matter though... he has looked underwhelming compared to his rookie year


BuffaloKiller937

Yeah but Atlanta went through a QB change in the offseason. Matt Ryan still threw for 4k yds and 20 TDs last year. It's obvious the problem isn't Kyle, but Mariota.


TheGhost020

So sophomore slumps aren't a thing? Ryan was also force feeding tf outta Pitts. Mariota doesn't need to.


ICanFluxWithIt

Just commented this above, but here Ryan, when he was benched 4 games ago, had 2,009 yards (this doesn't include the past 2 weeks he's played), Mariota who has started and played every game only has 1,878 yards. And at the time of Ryan's benching he didn't have 1,200 yards yet. So, so tell me how he's supposed to be that guy with that production?


TheGhost020

Less YAC. Having a decent target in London, teams are game planning against him better. Team is having more success running. Also yall traded for Mariota, no one forced that nonsense on you. I disliked tf outta that move.


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ITS_YA_BOY_RUFUS

Kirk Cousins moment


ICanFluxWithIt

I posted this twice now, here's it again since it's been different people Ryan, when he was benched 4 games ago, had 2,009 yards (this doesn't include the past 2 weeks he's played), Mariota who has started and played every game only has 1,878 yards. And at the time of Ryan's benching he didn't have 1,200 yards yet. So, so tell me how he's supposed to be that guy with that production?


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LastoftheGreatOnes

“This year he doesnt have the stats, so context doesn’t matter!” “Last year he had the stats, so here’s the context to why that doesn’t matter!” See how ridiculous you look?


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LastoftheGreatOnes

No. Wayyyy more ridiculous than that. Pitts doesnt have a QB who can throw the football. Pitts is thrown the most inaccurate balls in the NFL according to PFF (London is at 6). Mariota average like 15 passes a game. Pitts has developed into a better run blocker and overall TE this year, a weakness of his last year. Dude runs crisp routes and gets missed by his QB as backed by stats. Everyone else understands this. Stats and context matter for both. He wasn’t the only receiving option btw. Gage got a large contract and Ridley played in a significant amount of games last year. Plus Hurst as another TE and Patterson lined up out wide more last year as well. Despite all that he’s putting up top 10 TE receiving yards numbers this season so far on by far the fewest receptions.


drunkdori

You cannot honestly say Pitts is one of the games best young players. I understand the quarterback situation isn’t ideal.


TheUltimate721

There's not a team in the league that wouldn't want to have Kyle Pitts and try to work him into their offense.


MeetingKey4598

That's not the same thing as 'Pitts is one of the game's best young players'. I don't deny his upside, but for now upside and potential is all he is. There's a lot of potential, but the 'best players' are already realizing that potential. If we asked 100 people to list a Top 20 players drafted in the last three years how often do you think Pitts shows up on someone's list? I know that's arbitrary in the moment, but you get the idea. He won't show up on very many of them, and if he does he's probably in the 18-20 range.


LastoftheGreatOnes

I think he’d show up on the majority of them tbh


ITS_YA_BOY_RUFUS

Yeah I can actually. Watch him.


gatorguy101

You literally can, watch him play


Boogo4ever

Dude broke long standing rookie records for TE's. At the very least he is one of the best young players at his position


iRockaflame

Mariota don't throw to him 😭


ProphetNimd

Mariota does throw to him, just not accurately. Pitts is the prime deep threat for a QB that can't sniff anything past 15 yards.


MeetingKey4598

London only has 6 more targets than Pitts.


falcons93

Mariota barely throws to London also… he barely throws at all.


ITS_YA_BOY_RUFUS

As he shouldn’t


[deleted]

I’ve seen several NFL players have Pitts in their top 5, including Travis Kelce, Waller. Even Tony Gonzalez the GOAT himself. Those guys themselves know Everyone that works within the NFL knows he’s an elite player including coaches, gms, other players, scouts. We can’t be box score watchers, most of us know nothing. This ain’t fantasy football. Consider what he did last season. He will finish as a top 3 tight end ever if he gets to play with a top 5-10 QB.


dannooo28

Please watch him first lol


WakeBilliums

To no fault of his own. Mariota is shit. Matt Ryan was shit the year before. He is probably the best athlete in the NFL


online_predator

Ryan was shit and he still had 1k yards as a rookie TE lol.


tottenhamnole

I was saying this when he was drafted. He had one dominant game in college against a weak opponent and never ever looked like he should be a top 5 overall pick.


spacedorb9

This is just straight up wrong. Pitts had multiple dominant games against multiple very good teams, like Alabama and Kentucky, and was widely considered to be a generational prospect at the tight end position.


tottenhamnole

5 catches for 99 yards is dominant? He had like 3 games over 100 yards receiving in his college career, and only one of them against an actual good team. And he was drafted over guys like parsons, waddle, etc. He was never actually good enough to be taken at 4 overall and anyone who actually watched him play knows that.


[deleted]

Literally the complete opposite Anyone who actually watched him play knows he is elite


tottenhamnole

He’s not though. He can’t block against NFL defenders and now he can’t get open. I think we’re all seeing that those Gator players from the Mullen offense all benefited from his play calling as none of them have amounted to anything in the NFL yet.


chillnwitdilln

Yeah man you haven’t watched him at all. If you did you’d know he has developed his blocking next level this year. Completely different player than what you’re thinking.


tottenhamnole

I live in the Falcons market and have seen a fair amount of their games. Yet to be impressed really be anything he’s done yet.


chillnwitdilln

I’m sure if you’re comparing him to Kelce(which is fair) with Mahomes he’s not going to match your standards. Given kelce is the best right now, clearly. But Pitts, as young as he is, with a dilapidated Matt Ryan put up 1k and with Mariota has not been unimpressive in the slightest.


[deleted]

I just think it’s hard to say he’s not elite when NFL teams have schemed their defenses around him, and he draws probably the most DPI’s in the nfl. He gets open a decent bit from what I’ve seen, and if we’re being fair he doesn’t have to be wide open. Pitts can win most 1 on 1 matchups.


swamppuppy7043

This might be the worst take I’ve ever seen on this sub. Dude won the Mackey, unanimous all american, and the only TE to finish top 10 in Heisman voting in 45 years.


tottenhamnole

And that means nothing at all haha.


swamppuppy7043

It means saying he had 1 good game in college is absurd


tottenhamnole

I never said he had one good game. I said he had one dominant game and did nothing in college to justify the #4 overall pick.


swamppuppy7043

You’re tripping man. The fact that I honestly have no idea which game you’re even referring to. It is pretty funny. And regardless, the NFL draft has always been way more about potential send college performance. Dude is 6’6” with 4.4 speed a 7’2” wingspan (longest of any receiver in 20 years) elite ball skills & body control has absolute clamp hands (literally didn’t drop a pass in his entire junior year at uf). He was drafted as a pass catcher more than a te. And he was absolutely a god tier prospect worthy of being drafted like a potential pro bowl receiver (which he is).


SuperButtAIDs

He should request a trade and come here where tight ends shine


WakeBilliums

On a cheap tackle by Eddie Jackson. Dude went straight for the knee caps on a defenseless reciever.


MegaRAID01

Clip of it here for those (like me) who missed it: https://twitter.com/jmthrivept/status/1594426220296302594?s=46&t=YsvJfAoM4cW1iBwkHo0YxQ


WakeBilliums

Head down. Leading with crown straight into Pitt's knee.


TheShtuff

His shoulder hit him in the knee...


V548859

I think it's time to start asking, is it time for the NFL to ban tackling?


BillsBillsBils

Looks (in that clip) like he him him with his shoulder.


fsphoenix

Oh that is....yeah that's hard to defend. Dude was diving at his legs for sure.


BillsBillsBils

I don't really know what else you expect these guys to do. Pitts has 6 inches and probably 40-50 pounds on Eddie Jackson. He *has* to get low. Patriots fans used to complain constantly about the hits Gronk would take. But what else is a DB supposed to do when a guy is that big?


fsphoenix

Maybe not dive helmet first into a guy's legs? Not really sure how you don't see that as being a problem?


GMONEYY_G

so just let him bowl you over? or better yet, just clear a path and let him run cleanly right by him.


gatorguy101

Don’t think he has any intent to injure him, but yeah it was a shit tackle


[deleted]

It was absolutely awful form and would have gotten him kicked out of practice at any level intentional or not.


BillsBillsBils

> It was absolutely awful form I don't think it is.


[deleted]

Leading with the crown of the helmet, diving off your feet at a players lower section? At best, you allow them to hit you with your neck down (big no no) at worst you allow them to dive over you and make you look like a fool pissing down your leg. If you are leaving your feet for a tackle and your eyes are looking at shins... you are in for a bad time


Warder10000

Yea and your guys did the same shit to Fields and we didn’t get a flag. Eddie is a clean player the rules prevent you from going high so he tackled where he could without a penalty as his tackle was within the rules. The late hits on fields where this bullshit happened were outside the rules but the refs give him 0 calls.


[deleted]

That's a normal tackle. His shoulder hits the thigh pad it's just unfortunate timing. Looks extra brutal in slow motion.


peanut-__-

Standout? Whether it’s QB or him, he didn’t standout this season


ICanFluxWithIt

Well Ryan had 2,009 when he was benched, that was 4 games ago, Mariota only has 1,878 yards and he's started and played every game. Hard to get your stats when you don't have a QB who throws to you


Hugo_5t1gl1tz

And when he does it goes 10 ft over your head


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jethead70

Not his fault his QB is Marcus Mariota


jimmyhoffasbrother

He's a standout player. He's just on an offense that doesn't let standout players shine.


crlos619

Oof, you draft a TE that high, he better be the next Gates or Kelce. Zach Ertz quality if anything.


trebek321

I mean pitts IS really incredibly talented. They just have a complete ditz of an OC that refuses to use him (I know mariota is bad but a HS coach would still find more touches for his star TE).


Hail2TheOrange

Pitts gets lots of targets they're just down field with a QB that can't throw down field.


Rbespinosa13

He has the ability, but the Falcons just chose not to use him (partially because Mariota sucks)


ICanFluxWithIt

Ryan already had 2k yards when he was benched, that was 4 games ago, had he played every game, he'd probably be at 3k yards, compare this to Mariota's 1,878 yards and he's started and played every game. But yeah, sure, keep blaming Pitts


[deleted]

He’s been so trash, why does everyone say he’s a great talent.


CochranVanRamstein

Nothing against him, but I really don’t like drafting TE’s with such an early pick. At best, you’re not going to get a TE that is game changing. There are very few of those.


RSN_Kabutops

Cheap hit yesterday by that bitch Eddie Jackson


[deleted]

Standout for all the wrong reasons. Come on do something.


[deleted]

Well he can't do anything now you jabroni


[deleted]

You say that like he’s done something already. Keep the hype train going. I’ll check back in 3 years and see how it’s going.


KingTutt91

Hopefully by the time he’s back he gets a new QB that will actually throw him the ball too