Sophomore tight end Kyle Pitts leads the Gators with three touchdown receptions on the season. (Photo: Kelly Chase/UAA Communications)
Pitts Has Earned Those Passes Coming His Way
Monday, September 30, 2019 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – They stood about 20 feet away from one another Saturday night inside Florida's team meeting room, with a group of reporters huddled around each player after the Gators' victory over Towson.
The tone and mannerisms inside each huddle was as different as the hairstyles worn by Gators receiver Trevon Grimes and tight end Kyle Pitts. Grimes interacts with the media using a dash of flash and style. Pitts takes more of a banker approach.
Not surprisingly, if they were cars, they would be very different models.
"He'd probably be a SUV,'' Grimes said.
Florida's receivers have a game they play amongst themselves. They imagine what kind of vehicle they are on certain routes or plays. Fast routes are run by Lamborghinis. School buses run slow routes. The play Kadarius Toney made against Miami for Florida's first touchdown of the season has a special hood.
"That's a Bugatti right there,'' Grimes said. "Strong, fast, powerful."
Grimes came up with a new one for himself the other day. A Brinks Truck for his ability to pick up yards after contact. Which takes us back to Pitts, the 6-foot-6, 239-pound tight end from Abington, Pa.
He has a skill-set that makes him a difficult model to define.
Pitts has blossomed into one of Florida's go-to receivers with 17 receptions for 189 yards and a team-high three touchdown catches entering this week's showdown with No. 7-ranked Auburn (5-0, 2-0). Over the past three games, Pitts has 12 catches for 153 yards, and in the last two – since quarterback Kyle Trask took over for injured starter Feleipe Franks – he has all three of his touchdown grabs.
In Saturday's win over Towson, Pitts caught a 5-yard touchdown in the first quarter and a 7-yarder in the third quarter to further establish his role in the lineup. In only five games, Pitts has more receptions than any UF tight end since DeAndre Goolsby had 38 catches in 2016.
Florida head coach Dan Mullen has utilized tight ends prominently throughout his coaching career. In his first season back in Gainesville last fall, the position managed 33 receptions and four touchdowns. However, of the five tight ends with a catch, senior C'yontai Lewis led the way with just nine grabs. Pitts had three. He matched that total in the season opener (3 for 33) against the Hurricanes.
Kyle Pitts creates a matchup problem for opposing defenses. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Pitts' blend of size, speed and athleticism allows Mullen to line him up wide or on the edge of the offensive line typical of the traditional tight end.
"Kyle Pitts has gotten a lot more comfortable, really within the offense," Mullen said Monday. "You saw last year we played him a little bit more, played him at receiver, trying to get him on the field, and then being more as the true tight end this year. I just think it's a lot more of him getting to the role where we expect our tight ends to be. We expect tight ends to be a huge factor in our offense."
Pitts is a matchup problem for opposing defenses. He can outmuscle smaller defensive backs and outrun linebackers in space. He also has shown good hands in tight spots.
While his breakout season has arrived quickly for others to digest, not so for Pitts. He put in the work to study the playbook and entered Year 2 with a much greater knowledge base of the offense. He sought to expand his role as much as possible, whether at receiver or tight end.
"I would say it changed drastically,'' he said. "I really took the time to study hard, which I feel makes me play more loosely and confident. I'm comfortable with both positions. I want to be versatile. I have no problem blocking or blocking the perimeter, running routes on the outside as well."
Trask has taken notice, including his 19-yard touchdown pass to Pitts on the Tennessee win to cap his first drive as Florida's starting quarterback. Pitts is showing signs of becoming Florida's best option as a pass-catching tight end since Jordan Reed had 45 receptions in 2012.
"He's a great player and a great athlete to have on your team,'' Trask said. "Any time you see him out there with a matchup, you just have to get it out there in front of him."
When Grimes was asked about Pitts' following the Towson game, he looked over in admiration. They might be different models of cars, but they drive in the same lane.
"That's my boy," Grimes said. "I'm excited for him. He puts in a lot of hard work. Last year he was with the receivers and he worked very hard, but we knew he was always a tight end, we just had to make some adjustments, and he's back at tight end now and he's doing his thing.
"He's smooth. You don't see a tight end that's that smooth, that big, that can catch like that and run routes like that. Like I tell him all the time, he's one of the best; he needs to think like that, say like that, talk like that, because I believe he is, as everyone else does."
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