2021 NFL Mock Draft: Atlanta Falcons Select TE Kyle Pitts at No. 4

With the 4th pick of the 2021 DBN Community NFL Mock Draft, the Atlanta Falcons select...

Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida

The selection and write-up were made by yman1020:

The Falcons are a much better football team than their record indicates. They had one of the toughest SOS in 2020. Drafting at #4 elicits the natural question about the quarterback position. Matt Ryan, statistically at 26 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, 65% completion percentage, and a 93.3 QBR rating, was nearly identical to Baker Mayfield at 26 touchdowns to 8 interceptions, 62.8% completion percentage, and a 95 QBR rating (and we all feel #6 is gonna win us a Super Bowl). Ryan’s contract runs through 2024 and realistically couldn’t be moved until after the 2022 season at the earliest. This buys Atlanta two years before they have to implement a replacement plan at QB.

Looking at their division, the Panthers and Saints (now that Brees retired) are beatable. If they want to stay with the Buccaneers, they have to score more points. Based on their personnel, a high-end running back would greatly help this offense. Their offensive line was rated 21st overall by PFF and could also use an upgrade. They traded a 2nd and 5th round pick to the Ravens last year for Hayden Hurst and a 4th round draft pick. Hurst had a decent year at 56 receptions for 571 yards and 6 touchdowns. Their wide receiver corp is their biggest strength on offense pre-draft. It feels like the team can truly draft best player available, and in this case it is a coin flip between Pitts, Sewell and Chase. I’m not convinced Sewell is an offensive tackle at the next level and Chase is somewhat redundant to what they have. Pitts actually played in 2020 and has as high of a ceiling as any player in this draft.

Pokorny: “The Falcons seem like a stale team, so Pitts might be the type of player to inject some life into the offense again. Otherwise, this team could end up in the same cycle that the Lions were in for so long under Matthew Stafford.”

The Cincinnati Bengals are up next, led by GrandAdmiralThrawn0905.