The week 16 showdown provides the best case for the Kyle Pitts Dolphin draft

The week 16 showdown provides the best case for the Kyle Pitts Dolphin draft

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DeVonta Smith. Ja’Marr Chase. I sewed Sewell. Kyle Pitts.

If the Miami Dolphins fail to facilitate the exchange of general choice # 3 in the NFL’s 2021 Draft, the team’s options will be more restricted to these candidates. Miami, a team that needs an offensive momentum, would be well served if they add each one – the argument could be made for any of the members of the group to be called up.

But the prospect that seems to have the most momentum now is Florida TE Kyle Pitts; a bizarre athlete who ran around 4.50 s in the 40-yard run (he would say it was a 4.46 s run) at 246 pounds.

Pitts is a phenomenal athlete anyway. But some will question the merits of a “tight end” being chosen from the top three compared to the draft of an offensive tackle or wide receiver. But if you’re looking for the best argument to be made for the Dolphins to actually recruit Pitts if they stay in line with overall choice # 3, you need look no further than the second most recent football game in Week 16 against Las Vegas Raiders.

Miami won the contest out of courtesy of a little bit of Fitzmagic – but it almost lost its hopes thanks in large part to one of the possibilities that Pitts is most commonly compared to: Raiders, the tight end Darren Waller.

The man assigned to cover Waller that night? Defensive back Eric Rowe – usually one of the most robust cover guards against tight end opponents in all of football. Rowe, in the year, yielded an opponent passer rating of 76.9 against him on the cover according to Pro Football Focus and allowed only a touchdown on the cover. In 14 of the 16 Miami competitions in 2020, Rowe allowed less than 40 yards of coverage, while covering mostly opposing tight ends.

But in week 16 against Darren Waller? Rowe was shot 9 times and suffered 7 shots in 120 yards – Waller was unstoppable. And that’s a great reminder of what a player of his caliber (and that of Pitts) is capable of doing offensively. The only other tight end in the NFL to score Rowe for big numbers in 2020 was Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce. Games against the Raiders and Chiefs recorded 231 (115.5 ypg) of Rowe’s total of 508 yards conceded in the season under the Pro Football Focus.

Against teams that had a tough line-up? Rowe allowed 115.5 yards per game. In the other 14 games of the season, he allowed an average of 19.8 receiving yards. So let the performance serve Dolphins fans with a reminder of what a player in the Darren Waller or Kyle Pitts model can do. And then we must ask ourselves: why don’t you want this?

If Miami stands firm in third overall, it will likely be the team’s only chance at Pitts’ call. But recent history against players cut from the same fabric would indicate that it really is not a decision.

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