PHOENIX – Arthur Smith hadn’t spoken publicly in a while. Not since before the NFL Combine, in fact. A lot has happened since then, so there was much to discuss when he sat down with reporters Tuesday morning at the NFL owners meetings.
He touched on several different topics over roughly 28 minutes, just before breakfast at the Biltmore Hotel, starting with an official announcement that Desmond Ridder will be the Falcons starting quarterback moving forward.
That revelation required its own headline. You can read everything he said about Ridder as QB1, what solid him on the Cincinnati alum and the addition of Taylor Heinicke right here.
It wasn’t the only news fit to print.
Smith went over a number of new free-agent additions and how they fit, Kyle Pitts’ evolution and more that we’ll dive into right about now:
Kyle Pitts ready to ‘take the next step’
Kyle Pitts had a monster rookie year. The second best in NFL history, in terms of receiving yards by a tight end. The Pro Bowler’s stats took a dip in 2022, but it’s unfair to say that’s his fault.
The 2021 No. 4 overall NFL Draft pick suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 11 victory over Chicago. Before that he was working in an offense transformed from pass happy to be a run-first (second and third) unit, so his role was fundamentally different.
Smith praised his efforts during the year, especially those that didn’t show up on the stat sheet. It was clear, however, that Marcus Mariota struggled to get him the ball in space, with some notable and costly misfires that could’ve changed some outcomes.
No part of 2022 changed Smith’s opinion on Pitts trajectory, which remains on the ascent despite an injury setback. Drake London’s production cranked way up after Desmond Ridder got promoted and it’s fair to assume Pitts will benefit in a similar fashion.
That should crank his stats back up, though Smith will still look at Pitts’ impact holistically.
“Kyle came into this league with an enormous amount of hype,” Smith said. “He had a productive rookie year. We were playing with Matt [Ryan] and we threw the ball [158] times more [than in 2022]. That’s not Kyle’s fault. We missed some opportunities early in the year. He played a little banged up and obviously didn’t finish the year. I thought he improved as an overall player. With the way the league is covered with fantasy football and stats, stats, stats, that can be the focus, but his impact on our ability to win was enormous. We certainly missed him when he…
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