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Kyle Pitts lists his top tight ends of all time

profilephotocropby:Suzanne Halliburton•08/31/23•

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kyle pitts
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Maybe someday, another young tight end will name Kyle Pitts as one of the best ever at his position. For now, the Falcons star and former Gator is naming his own Mt Rushmore.

So who might he pick?

First, the obvious. It’s difficult to argue with naming Travis Kelce as No. 1 on the list. Kelce is the guy with two Super Bowl rings who is riding a streak of seven straight seasons of at least 1,000 yards. And his first two seasons weren’t shabby, either, with Kelce surpassing 800 yards in each of them.

Greg Olsen, who now is the top NFL analyst for Fox Sports, thinks Kelce is the top tight end as well. Like Kyle Pitts, Olsen is in the tight end fraternity.

“For Travis to have seven years in a row of over 1,000 yards,” Olsen said on the Pat McAfee Show earlier this summer. “Where prior, humble brag, it was three, it was me, humble brag, I know how hard it is to put up (the numbers).”

Olsen added more details: “For him to have seven straight seasons with over 1,000 yards, all the post-season records he’s putting on display as far as touchdowns, as 100-yard games, dominating performances, winning the Super Bowl this year. When you stack it all up, I never thought in a million years anybody would ever reach the level of Tony Gonzalez.”

Of course Kyle Pitts named Travis Kelce as the best tight end, ever. He’s seen here celebrating his second Super Bowl win. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Kyle Pitts also went with another current player on his list

So Kyle Pitts, who is starting his third season in the NFL, got his first pick right. Who else is on the list? How about current media personality and former Denver Bronco Shannon Sharpe? That’s another excellent choice. Sharpe was the first tight end in NFL history to blow past 10,000 career receiving yards. He also still is amongst the top three in tight end career yardage, receptions and touchdowns.

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Next on the list is George Kittle, who pushes Kelce as best tight end in the league today. The 49ers star has four Pro Bowl invites and already has 5.254 career receiving yards. If you’re Pitts, you probably checked out Kittle highlights before you arrived in the NFL.

The final choice was Ozzie Newsome, who played his entire career for the Browns. He’s an executive VP now with the Ravens (the one-time Cleveland Browns). And he made the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

A tight ends list without Tony Gonzalez feels incomplete. Voters for the Pro Football Hall of Fame thought he was worthy of induction. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

But we’ll forgive Kyle Pitts for some big-time misses. He didn’t mention Tony Gonzalez or Rob Gronkowski. Kellen Winslow Sr might have been the best pure receiver amongst the tight end set. And where would Kenny “the Snake” Stabler be in football history if he never threw to Dave Casper? Plus, before Mike Ditka ever was a Super Bowl coach with the Bears, he was an ace tight end for the Bears, Eagles and Cowboys.

Like we said, Kyle Pitts might be on someone’s list, someday. He’s already the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history. The Falcons selected him with the fourth pick out of Florida in 2021. And he made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. He was the first rookie tight end to earn a spot in the game in two decades. So maybe someone includes him as an all-timer.