How much better does he make an already high scoring offense? Sure, he may be a great talent but at the end of the day there is some level of value here. What does Pitts give this team? I am a firm believer in largely going BPA over need early in the draft but at some point, you have to assess where you are.
I mean just think about this when you wonder why the defense continues to scuffle year after year. We used a first round pick on Cooper. We used a first round pick on Lamb. We've used first, second and third round picks on building the OL. We used a third round pick on Gallup. We used a Top 5 pick on our TB. And we just gave our QB a massive contract. Now we want to use another first round pick on a pass catcher for an offense already pretty stacked in the passing department?
I am really struggling to wrap my head around how a TE at 10 makes a lot of sense. Granted part of my reasoning is that I am getting tired of almost every season unraveling because the defense just lacks talent and playmakers. I admit that might not be the wisest logic either.
I think getting healthy on offense and adding a blue chip talent like Pitts gets us to 30+ PPG which puts our offense at an elite status...we are not there yet. Adding someone like him creates space for the other WRs / RB and puts a lot of pressure on the opposing defense. It also keeps our defense off the field. I also think you have to think of him like a TE / WR because his skill set is so versatile (has reps of beating CBs outside in SEC).
I get it, I want the defense to improve...and it has to but we also need to keep in mind we had quite a few guys miss time last year that would've helped (LVE, McCoy, Gregory, etc...). We can also still plug holes and use the rest of the draft on defense.
The league has changed a lot over the years...TB's defense flipped the switch down the stretch to help but almost everyone team in the playoffs was a high powered offense. The top 8 scoring teams made the playoffs. The top 3 scoring teams made it to the Championship round.
I'm all for fixing the defense, but I'm never going to make a big reach for need in the top 10.