2023 Fantasy Football Draft Prep: TE rankings and salary cap/auction values for Draft Day

There probably aren't many tight ends with more Fantasy Football upside than Kyle Pitts. Pitts was the No. 4 pick in the 2021 draft, the highest a tight end has ever been selected, and then he proceeded to put together the second 1,000-yard season ever by a rookie tight end. He'll still be just 22 years old when the Falcons' season begins against the Panthers in Week 1. That's a profile you typically want to bet on.

But I'm growing increasingly concerned about his chances of paying off on that bet. Pitts made his preseason debut in Week 2 against the Bengals, and his usage was a bit concerning; he played nine of 17 snaps with the starters, per PFF.com. The Falcons also had Mycole Pruitt out there for nine snaps, while Jonnu Smith played seven.

There are a few things to keep in mind there, of course. For one, it was Pitts' first appearance in a game since suffering a torn MCL last November, so they might have just been working him back in relatively slowly. Then there's also the fact that the Falcons use Pitts more like a wide receiver than a tight end, so the presence of Pruitt and Smith isn't necessarily a huge hurdle to overcome.

Still, Pitts played more than 80% of the snaps just three times in 10 games last season, so I can't dismiss the possibility of him being more of a part-time player than I'd like to see. Falcons coach Arthur Smith wants to run the ball early and often, and Pitts isn't going to be a big part of the running game; that might lead him to taking him off the field in early-down situations, even when the Falcons are planning to pass. In what is already a low-volume passing game, any lost opportunity is going to be tough to overcome.

I still think Pitts' upside is worth chasing in Fantasy, but I am moving him down in my rankings. He may have a better best-case scenario than T.J. Hockenson, Dallas Goedert or Darren Waller, but there are probably already more ways for things to go wrong for him. That's why I finally made the move to drop Pitts behind Waller and Goedert in my rankings this week. I hope I'm wrong, because I want to see Pitts thrive. But I just can't justify taking him over those safer options with similar upside.

Here are my latest TE rankings, as of Aug. 22: