TeamPitts

[*ochocincos*]

(04-28-2021, 05:04 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I have talked about TEs being hurt for years. It's not a new stance. Talked about it a good amount earlier in the FA period. I even mentioned it quite awhile back in this thread when someone tried to say TEs last a long time and made like 7 examples of HoF TEs, and I said that they were great TEs BECAUSE they held up. 

You just hope your TE is more Gresham (1-2 games missed) than Eifert. 2020 was the first time Gronkowski played 16 games in the last 9 seasons. Kittle has only played 16 games in 1 of 4 seasons. 

I mentioned 1st rounders when talking about injuries earlier because they're generally expected to actually start from the getgo. If you're a 6th round pick and you play 16 games as a STer, or play like 15% of the offensive snaps, it's not really the same thing as we're talking about. ....Also because I did all that looking up and compiling by hand, and I simply didn't want to expand it.

The reason Pitts won't reach the targets isn't just because of likely injury, and it isn't just because TEs historically struggle their first year (Gronk had 546yds, Kittle had 515yds, Gonzalez had 368yds, Witten had 347yds, Gates had 389yds), and it isn't because if he goes to the Falcons he will have to share targets with Julio, Ridley, and Gage. It's a combination of all of them. The deck is stacked against the likelihood that all the stars align for his rookie season... and all of that is ignoring the possibility (regardless how small you think it is) he just outright busts.

You don't think Pitts has as much opportunity to see 100+ targets in ATL as Chase does in CIN?
Ryan threw the ball 628 times last year, the most in the NFL.
Hayden Hurst got 88 targets and is just "meh" as a pass catcher.


If Pitts goes to ATL, I fully expect him to get the 3rd most targets on the team, which would put him at around 100, especially if they trade Jones.

If Chase is taken by the Bengals, he could end up around just 100 too, as Taylor's offense likes to spread the ball around and will have to spread targets to Higgins, Boyd, Chase, Uzomah, and the RB.

Is Chase likely to get more targets than Pitts because of the positions they play? Yes.
But I don't think it will be as big of a difference as some think.