Ten years have gone by since Atlanta Falcon’s last offense made defensive coordinators nervous, but the team continues to peddle hope on draft night. That hope came in 2021 dressed in No. 8. A Florida unicorn, Kyle Pitts, was marketed as mismatch insurance for the next decade. Four years later the unicorn remains in the barn waiting for someone to open the gate.

On the surface, new head coach Raheem Morris threatens a new approach, but closer inspection reveals an offense that starves tight ends of the very thing that unlocks them: play‑action. As discussed on the Locked On Falcons podcast, “The Falcons are at the bottom of the NFL when it comes to the percentage of opportunities that they give to their tight ends via play action…..(they) are 6%, the NFL average is 23%.” The host made the point to go home with stark math. Atlanta tight ends get about one‑third of the play‑action looks a “normal” NFL offense gives out, and Pitts took the most hammering, just 3 percent of his routes and 5 percent of his targets were off-play action last year.

He even highlighted, “The Falcons use their tight ends about one quarter of the time that every other NFL team is using them. And in terms of targets, you know, only about 9% of our tight ends’ targets come via play action. In the NFL average (is) about 29%.” Those figures reflect why Kyle Pitts‘ stat line (47 attempts for 602 yards and 4TDs in 2024) is a level behind peers. The NFL’s best 32 tight ends had 18 percent of their routes come off play action on average. With the top six, Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, George Kittle, Jonnu Smith, Travis Kelce, Sam LaPorta. Averaging above 20 percent and five being invited to the Pro Bowl.

Morris’ résumé makes the puzzle more difficult to solve. A defensive genius who led the Rams to a Super Bowl championship, he took over in Atlanta with a roster that went 8‑9 in 2024 despite Kirk Cousins and rookie Michael Penix Jr. averaging the league’s 13th-best scoring output. But Morris has acknowledged Atlanta hasn’t gotten to its built-in play-action plays. Whether it’s philosophical conservatism or carryover habits from Arthur Smith’s run-friendly playbook, the result is the same.

The NFL’s first 1,000-yard rookie tight end is being played like a check-down fullback. For Falcons enthusiasts, the question isn’t if Pitts will break out, but if Morris will ever allow it.

Kyle Pitts’ quest for post‑rookie consistency

The system handcuffs seep into a larger story: Kyle Pitts has spent three years pursuing the potential of Year One. Injuries clipped his wings in 2022; quarterback roulette and a pedestrian route tree muted his impact in 2023. Now, a fourth playcaller in five years asks him to thrive on scraps of misdirection. Defensive coordinators know what’s coming, straight drops, contested seams, and red‑zone fades that rely on tight windows rather than leverage. The box‑score erosion reflects it: reception totals dropped from 68 to 47, yards from 1,026 to 602.

Morris claims the next step is “on Kyle,” but the tape begs to differ. Play action freezes linebackers; linebackers leave the middle; the unicorn runs wild and free. Without it, Pitts has to muscle through bracket coverage more frequently than Travis Kelce sees single‑high safety looks. Even the Falcons’ own site recognized tight‑end production might “dictate” whether lofty 2025 expectations are met.

Until philosophy catches up with talent, Atlanta threatens to waste its most precious asset. League pundits already speculate about a second contract elsewhere. But the fix is far from intricate: call up misdirection, feature Pitts with Bowers in 12‑personnel. If Morris seriously desires to pen a new Atlanta chapter. He needs to begin by arming the page already plated in first‑round ink. Otherwise, the unicorn remains corralled. And the Falcons continue to be baffled as to why the pasture appears so bare on Sundays.