I certainly understand this viewpoint. And you’re a good poster who does understand football, so please don’t take this as me preaching at you. But:
Evan Engram isn’t nearly in the same class as Pitts. Engram had decent height, very good athleticism but was very raw at actually playing football. He was very much a projection. He’s fast as hell but all the other things that a TE/WR does was essentially missing.
Try to just forget about Pitts’ physical skills. He doesn’t need to be compared to Engram, Ebron, etc. Just focus on what he does on the football field. His ability to get open and catch the ball are unlike any college TE that I’ve ever seen. His natural feel for football in general and catching the ball in particular are better than great. They are pretty rare period but even more so for TE.
Everything he does on the football field is natural and easy for him. I’m talking about catching, running routes, high pointing the ball and even running after the catch. He understands angles, leverage, and has just a natural feel for all the physics that go into football. He already does most things right. And he is even an OK blocker, though that isn’t his strength.
I’ve been hesitant to say this but the natural way that Pitts catches the ball, runs routes and runs after the catch reminds me an awful lot of the way Randy Moss played. No, I’m not saying he’ll be the TE version of Moss, but there are some similarities in the way they play football. I’m just saying that how what they need to do to win their matchups comes so easily and naturally to them. They both play above the DB’s heads (in more than one way),and they both are among the most natural catchers that I’ve ever seen. Both are long, lean and extremely athletic and both seem to have rare hand-eye coordination.
Notice in none of that was I really talking about Pitts freakish physical skills. What I wrote above is almost exclusively about just being a great football player. I think way too many look at him as just a physical freak and think he needs to be compared to guys like Engram. He’s a completely different beast and much of what makes him so good is between his ears.
Sort of like comparing Randy Moss to John Ross because they are both really fast. It wasn’t Moss’ speed that made him a Hall of Farmer.
Now, on top of Pitts’ innate ability to be a really great football player, throw in his rare speed, his rare athleticism at 6’6” tall and huge catch radius and you have a guy that could be a unique, devastating weapon that has a chance to end up in the ring of honor and even more (read: HOF). Everything about him and his game screams blue-chip.
Regarding Kittle and Kelce, I know what you’re saying about them not being first round picks, however, if NFL teams knew what they would become, they wouldn’t hesitate to use a high pick on them. Both of those guys are highly paid and are huge weapons for their teams. However, teams just didn’t know how great they’d be. So it isn’t like a great TE isn’t worth it... teams just didn’t know that they’d be dominant. With Pitts, teams probably are pretty sure that he will be great so he’ll be picked early. Very early. Like probably before the 10th pick, making this whole conversation moot, haha.
