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As the NFL Draft comes closer the buzz surrounding Florida tight end Kyle Pitts is reaching deafening levels. Without the NFL Combine and with NFL Teams unable to hold individual workouts with players the emphasis on Pro Day became enormous.
Wednesday inside Florida's indoor practice facility would be the one opportunity Pitts had to show NFL teams what kind of player he was.
It's safe to say Pitts rose to the occasion.
Pitts started the day off being measure on things he can't change. His height checked in just a hair under 6-6, weight just under 250, his hands were the size of hubcaps at nearly 11 inches, and his wingspan of 83 3/8" is the biggest of any receiver of tight end in the last 20 years. Physically, Pitts appears to have been created in a laboratory by football coaches searching for a way to cheat the system.
How would he perform?
His 33.5" vertical would have tied him for 10th among tight ends in the 2020 combine and his 22 reps, considering how long his arms are (bench press is considerably more difficult for people with long arms because it's a longer path for the bar to travel), was a solid number.
Then it came time to run and if you blinked you would have missed him. Pitts ran 4.44 twice officially, showing off the speed that makes him a true mismatch for opponents.
“I wanted to show everybody my strength and my speed. Getting out there and doing those bench numbers, that probably brought a lot people, they didn’t expect me to do that," Pitts said after pro day. "In the 40 I wanted to run sub 4.5, that was something I wanted to show. Just going out there being elusive, getting in and out of breaks, just playing football.”
As the NFL continues to evolve into a pass-happy, pass-first league chasing points the tight end position has evolved as well. No disrespect to Hall of Famer Mike Ditka, but he's not really the mold of what the tight end position is in the game today.
Pitts is that mold and more.
"He’s an unbelievable football player. You know I got t to be around it for three years, so I’ve seen it all," Dan Mullen said of Pitts. "I’ve been wowed by it all for the last three years. So I’ve gotten to see it in meetings, in practice, how he trains, how he works. So, it didn’t surprise me at all.”
ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper has seen a lot of prospects, but none like Kyle Pitts.
"It's definitely been a dream since I was younger, but you know, now, here, I don't like to turn, actually I don't, I'd rather not turn on SportsCenter and hear all of that. But you know, you always, somebody is gonna tell you about it," Pitts said. "But for the most part, it's crazy, but you know when the chips fall they fall, and God-willing I am a top five pick or a top ten pick, then that would be something amazing for myself, and it's only up from there."
The real challenge of the day was just performing under immense pressure. As stated before this was a one-time shot. Run a 4.7 in the 40 and maybe some teams drop you down on their board.
What Kyle Pitts did on Wednesday was put data, tangible numbers, to go along with what he put on film in 2020. He did that with a resounding exclamation point.
Now, it's out of his hands. Pitts has done everything he's been asked to do and it's up to one of the 32 NFL teams to call and make his dream a reality.
"On draft night, I can't even tell you how it's going to go," he said. "I feel like I'll have no appetite, but it will just be something special. I'll just let it come to me."
