To me, fantasy managers were hugely overvaluing Kyle Pitts this off-season. In superflex dynasty leagues, people were taking him in the 1st round as the TE1. In redraft leagues, fantasy managers were taking him in the 3rd round as the TE3. This seemed ridiculous to me as he was the TE12 per game last year and had a QB downgrade. I understand that rookies often develop, but I couldn’t see him making that jump, especially since this offence was not likely to improve in going from Matt Ryan to Marcus Mariota. But now after two weeks, he’s the TE35. Now, many of his owners are wondering what to do with Kyle Pitts.

Dynasty

As you can tell from his ADP, he is more highly valued in dynasty leagues than in redraft leagues. There is some logic to this as the usual suspects for best TEs (Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, Darren Waller, and George Kittle) are all aged 27 or older while Kyle Pitts is 21 (though nearly 22). However, to be valued as a 1st round pick, he would have to perform at a Travis Kelce or Mark Andrews level and I do not see that happening with this offence. Can he reach that level eventually? Maybe. But to me, that’s much too high of a price to pay for someone who has yet to show it. It’s essentially an expensive gamble.

That being said, I do see his value. He can be used as a receiver and has the talent to be an elite fantasy TE. Like with DK Metcalf, talent isn’t the issue, it’s the situation. And even though this is dynasty and managers may want to wait until his situation improves, he shouldn’t be valued at that ideal situation. To me, his value should be beneath Mark Andrew’s and closer to Travis Kelce’s. Personally, I’d sell him while he is still seen as close to a first-rounder, or hope for a good game and sell him then.

Redraft

In redraft leagues, I do think he’ll be better than he’s been. I wouldn’t expect him to perform at the level of the top TEs but I still think he will be a solid starter, which isn’t saying much. For one, I would still have him significantly behind Kelce and Andrews. I would also prefer a healthy Kittle or Waller. Everett and Ertz are two other names I’d slightly prefer over Pitts because of their offences. Personally, I would try to sell him for Everett or Ertz and try to get more on top of it since he still has that name value.

Wrap-Up

Many like to value young players at their ceilings. Regularly doing this will lead to overpaying for players. Personally, I don’t value players significantly above what they have proven (rookie running backs are the main exception). This type of thinking led me to mistakenly question why some had Chase valued as a top-10 dynasty WR last off-season, but more often than not, this has prevented me from making big overpays in fantasy football. Pitts still has time to turn things around, but I’m not expecting him to live up to his draft capital in redraft or dynasty leagues. It’s up to you, but these are my opinions on what to do with Kyle Pitts.

If you found this article helpful, check out other Belly Up Fantasy Sports articles at Belly Up Fantasy and you can follow me on Twitter.