Kirk Cousins will wear No. 18 as the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. Fans are now panicked about Kyle Pitts as a result of the jersey number change.
Is he going to get targets?!
Their concerns are valid after a recent conversation between the new signal-caller and the fourth-year tight end. The former did not take the latter’s number despite his willingness to give it up!
Pitts, the fourth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, has had a frustrating start to his career. He went for 1,026 yards on 68 catches as a rookie with Matt Ryan and then saw his production fall off of a cliff.
Desmond Ridder, Marcus Mariota and Taylor Heinicke did not get him the ball as often as they should. Part of that stemmed from the coaching staff.
Kyle Pitts caught just 28 passes on 59 targets in 2022. While 2023 was better, he still finished with only 52 catches and 667 yards on 90 targets while Jonnu Smith also saw 50 catches on 70 targets.
And now Cousins, who wore No. 8 since high school, has arrived.
The 35-year-old offered to buy his jersey number from Pitts or make a donation on his behalf. His new tight end said that neither would be necessary, asking only for “targets every game.”
Thus, the announcement on Monday sparked fear amongst Falcons fans that Pitts will not be targeted.
If Cousins was able to promise him the ball, he would get to wear the No. 8 jersey.
But he will not wear 8! He will instead wear 18.
Does this mean that Cousins would not promise targets? Probably not.
The league probably got involved between last Wednesday’s press conference and today, and required Cousins to buy out the remaining inventory of Pitts jerseys. That would’ve been costly. No. 18 will do!