I'm Back, Baby! - Also: Kyle Pitts, A Love Story

 Decided to do this again. New domain, same inane...ity.

Think of this: it’s the night of the Draft. Miami has sprinted their pick up to the podium after two quarterbacks go with the first two picks. Everyone in the building and the looking-on football public is sweating, biting their nails. Who are they going to pick? What are they going to broadcast to us all as their plan for the 2021 season and beyond? 

The name? 

Kyle Pitts. 

Forget the Patriots’ two tight end attack. Forget that Brian Flores was an offensive assistant the year Gronk and Hernandez were drafted. (interesting side note, Buccaneers GM Jason Licht was on that same staff). Forget all that for a second.

 Kyle Pitts is the best receiver in this draft. Bar none. There are two players in this draft that are guaranteed hall of fame players: Trevor Lawrence, and Kyle Pitts. 

When you draft with a top-5 pick, you have two goals in mind. Draft a franchise quarterback or draft a hall of famer. This is why teams trade out of the top-10. There’s too much pressure. You whiff up there and you’re as good as out the door. 

I don’t think this pick is too big for Chris Grier. In fact, I think that this pick is exactly what they wanted, and the draft fell exactly how they hoped. Two desperate franchises willing to bet everything on a new quarterback, and them sitting there with their pick of offensive skill players. 

They know their roster. They watched their undersized receivers get beat up all season. Grier has watched it his entire 19-something-year career with Miami. 

Listen to what anyone will say about Kyle Pitts. 

The guy is the most polished route runner in the draft. Nate Burleson called him a big receiver. The blurb on NFL.com compares him to Megatron. Colin Cowherd reported that day one on your team he will be, barring only maybe five guys in the league your best receiver on your roster. 

Miami has the ability to stretch the field horizontally. They have a quarterback who wants to stretch the field vertically. He needs someone he can see above his line. He needs someone he can trust to go up and get it in the middle of the field. 

The perimeter is never going to be Tagovailoa’s strong game. They want to run more play-action and RPO. They already ran a ton of two-Tight End sets last year, so they could chip and leave guys in for extra protection. Tua is already productive with Gesicki. 

Miami is connected genetically to New Orleans. Watching Kyle Pitts play reminds me of Jimmy Graham - I’ve heard him compared to Kellen Winslow. And who was throwing to Jimmy Graham in New Orleans? An undersized quarterback who likes to throw to big dudes he can see over the middle of the field. 

My final argument, not the one I alluded to, (Gronk and Hernandez) is Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Those guys, specifically Boldin because of his size and Fitzgerald because of his wiggle (but let’s not act like he’s not got size himself) wore defenders down through the course of games. 

I see a Dolphins roster with DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, Mike Gesicki, and Kyle Pitts pummeling teams. 

The league is going to smaller linebackers. The obvious move is to go to bigger offensive linemen and a cadre of power backs to wear them down. You’re watching the Patriots and Ravens try this very tactic. New England won a few titles that way. 

But defenses adapt and you see how well both those teams did in the regular and post- seasons. 

If you look around the league at offenses with young quarterbacks that are working at a high level, what are you seeing? Tight ends jumping off the stats sheet. 

You don’t need to look further than Travis Kelce in Kansas City, but you’ve got Zach Ertz in Philly, George Kittle in San Francisco, and most recent to jump out, Darren Waller with Oakland. All of those offenses are successful - especially in the first half of the season - because defenses either don’t have an answer for those players, or have not made the decision to eliminate them at all costs. Those teams, when they lose their Tight Ends as major contributors, go into the tank. 

So here’s my solution: Give your second year quarterback two of them. Gesicki proved he could take over games. Let Kyle Pitts take over the other ones. 

I'm telling you. 

Draft this kid.