After the first practice of Atlanta Falcons training camp, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. delivered a message before fielding his first question.
“See we got KP the ball today,” Penix said unprompted, referencing the involvement of tight end Kyle Pitts in the offense Thursday.
Penix smirked, then added: “There’s gonna be a lot of that.”
Pitts is entering the final year of his rookie contract. The highest-drafted tight end in NFL history, Pitts hasn’t lived up to the perhaps fantastical expectations he faced when he was taken No. 4 overall in 2021.
As a rookie, the former Florida star recorded the third-most receiving yards (1,026) of any tight end in the league that season. But he found the end zone only once. In each of the three seasons since, Pitts hasn’t even come close to returning to the 1,000-yard receiving mark. Plus, he’s averaged just 74.3 targets per season in that span, finally reaching 10 career receiving touchdowns in 2024.
Pitts has been underutilized in the Falcons offense, particularly over the past three years. Penix indicated that won’t happen again in 2025.
Embarking on his first training camp as Atlanta’s QB1, the second-year signal-caller has big plans for a unit coordinated by Zac Robinson and stacked with a deck of intriguing playmakers.
Pitts is one of them. Running back Bijan Robinson, who recorded the NFL’s third-most rushing yards last season but was similarly underused as a rookie in 2023, is another.
Not only did Penix spend extra time throwing to Pitts this offseason, but he also did the same with wide receiver Drake London, who is coming off a 100-reception, 1,271-yard and 9-touchdown campaign.
“We should be the best in the league with the guys we’ve got around us,” a confident Penix said, per the Associated Press.
“We should be unstoppable. So that’s that’s our goal. We want to be No. 1 in all categories.”
In addition to London, the Falcons’ wide receiving corps includes a shifty Darnell Mooney and a slippery Ray-Ray McCloud III.
London ranked second in the league with 22 contested catches in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus, which had McCloud down for the most yards after the catch (342) of any Falcons wideout last season. As for Mooney, his 992 receiving yards were his most in a single season since 2021.
Mooney did, however, leave Thursday’s practice after diving for a deep ball and taking a hard fall, according to multiple reports.
Still, the potential is clearly there for the kind of prolific offensive firepower that Penix surgically facilitated during his final season at Washington, where he became a Heisman Trophy finalist and national runner-up.
Penix backed up newly signed Kirk Cousins last season after the Falcons surprisingly drafted Penix No. 8 overall. Cousins was ultimately benched following his struggles in the second half of the season as he battled pain in his right arm.
Penix started the final three games. Although his Falcons went 1-2 and missed the playoffs at 8-9, he showed enough promise to earn the opportunity to start full-time this season.
Those games were critical to Penix’s development.
“Yeah, it’s very important,” Penix said Thursday, via the AP. “Just knowing, just being able to go out there and get those games with full-speed reps — it instills confidence, knowing I can go out there and do the same thing that you saw in college and all my life.
“So, you know, just I would say biggest thing is confidence.”
Penix signaled plenty of that the first day of Falcons training camp.
