Coaches:
With a new contract in hand, Pitts enters the 2026 season looking to pick up right where he left off in 2025. During the final six weeks of the season, Pitts led all NFL tight ends with 469 receiving yards and ranked second in touchdowns with four. He displayed a new degree of on-field confidence and tapped into his rare athletic gifts more consistently. It was an encouraging sign for the former fourth-overall pick, who will turn 26 next season.
While Pitts answered some questions about his own play last season, the offseason has introduced new questions about the Falcons’ offense with the arrival of Stefanski as head coach and Tommy Rees as offensive coordinator. It’s tempting to point to the offenses run in Cleveland during Stefanski’s time there, especially last season when Rees held the coordinator role as well, but coaches often strive to match their schemes to the strengths of the players on their roster. And while the coaches might be the same, the players on Atlanta’s offense and those in Cleveland last year are completely different.
How will they plan to use Pitts in 2026? Is he going to be an in-line tight end as frequently as he was in Arthur Smith’s offense or will he spend most of his time in the slot, like he has been the last couple of years? David Njoku is maybe the closest thing the Browns had at tight end to what Pitts is, but they are far from a perfect comparison. Still, according to Next Gen Stats, Njoku played 52.3% of his snaps tight to the line and 39.1% of his snaps in the slot over his last three seasons with the Browns. That gives us one small notion of what this could look like, but this is a new weapon for Stefanski and Rees to work with and they could have something unique in mind.
“I think there’s all sorts of different jobs he can do,” Stefanski said. “You know, in-line tight end, line up in the backfield, line up outside. I think it comes back to that versatility piece. And I think you’ve seen that from Kyle in his career. It’s not putting Kyle in positions that he hasn’t been in already, but it’s quarter-turn adjusting a few of them and maybe utilizing a few different route techniques, if you will. But he’s proven to be a good football player in this league.”
Fans got a pleasant surprise during the Falcons’ early wave of free-agent signings when it was announced on March 12 that tight end Austin Hooper would be returning to the organization that selected him in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. It was a move that made sense on multiple levels. Hooper is familiar with the franchise after spending his first four seasons in Atlanta, including the Super Bowl run in 2016, and has previously played alongside teammates like Jake Matthews, Chris Lindstrom and Olamide Zaccheaus. He also developed a strong relationship with Matt Ryan during his first stint with the Falcons, and he likely understands very well the type of culture the team wants to set. Finally, Hooper spent two seasons in Cleveland with Stefanski and understands his program.
All of that sets Hooper up well to hit the ground running in training camp and establish a tempo that younger players can follow. But when the ball is snapped, what is the plan for Hooper, who is entering his 11th NFL season? While playing for the Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots last season, Hooper made six starts and caught 21 passes for 263 yards and a pair of touchdowns. In Cleveland, he averaged 42 catches, 390 receiving yards and 3.5 touchdowns in his two seasons while mostly lining up with his hand in the dirt. If he occupied the same in-line tight end role here in Atlanta, Hooper and Pitts could easily co-exist on the field in 12- or 13-personnel sets. The bigger question is how the Falcons choose to split work between Hooper and Charlie Woerner, who has been highly regarded for his ability as a run blocker since arriving in 2024. Hooper has been a reliable blocker in the run game for most of his career as well, though, and has a stronger history as a receiver.
It’s a good problem for the Falcons to have, especially in an era of the game where tight ends have become highly valuable. How the snaps shake out as we get deeper into camp is going to be compelling to watch.
One of the standouts of minicamp, and OTAs in general, was second-year tight end Joshua Simon. An undrafted free agent out of South Carolina last year, Simon spent his rookie season on Atlanta’s practice squad. At 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Simon is an athletically gifted receiver who caught 40 passes for 519 yards and seven touchdowns in his final year at South Carolina. His receiving skills have been on display in practices so far this year, and Simon also showed a knack for finding space in 7-on-7 and full-team drills. Atlanta’s tight end room is crowded, but Simon is a young player to watch heading into camp. A good preseason — and he could see a lot of snaps — might make things interesting.
Jack Velling enters camp as the rookie in the Falcons’ tight end unit. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Velling is an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State and showed versatility as a well-rounded receiver during his college career. In four seasons — two at Oregon State and two at Michigan State — Velling caught 117 passes for 1,489 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Source: www.atlantafalcons.com
