Cover 9@9: Tony Gonzalez on Pitts: ‘Kyle is going to be great’

“I anticipate him having a better than average rookie year because Matt (Ryan) has that history with good tight ends,” said Gonzalez over a virtual call with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Obviously, myself, Austin Hooper, he knows how to get the ball to the tight end. He knows how to draw up a play to get a tight end open, especially utilizing Matt strengths. Where does Matt like to throw the ball?”

Gonzalez played for 17 seasons in the NFL and was selected to 14 Pro Bowls and was named All-Pro six times. He also played basketball at California and was an athletic tight end. Gonzalez recently had a national TV ad for TiVo Stream 4K released and has started his acting career after a few years as an analyst on CBS Sports.

“When I first came into the league, people were saying wow, look at the athleticism at the position,” Gonzalez said. “This guy runs a 4.6, 40. He jumps 36, 37 inches. He’s athletic as hell. Then you look at Kyle Pitts, and he’s 6-6, runs a 4.4 and jumps 40 inches. It’s kind of like when Julio Jones came in, it was like ‘oh my God.’ It’s the evolution of the position.”

Gonzalez played 16 games with no starts and caught 33 passes as a rookie with the Chiefs back in 1997. He’s expecting much more from Pitts.

“The rules are set up differently,” Gonzalez said. “Especially, when I came in you had to block a lot. It was expected that you had to block that defensive end or that 3-4 linebacker. They don’t have to do much of that blocking anymore.”

Also, the player-safety rules have limited a lot of hits.

“You don’t get hit anymore like you used to get hit,” Gonzalez said. “Thank God. The rules are set up for the offense to have a lot more success than it was when I was playing.”

Pitts played just two plays in the exhibition season. He caught a short pass and turned it into a 27-yard gain.

“I think Kyle is going to have an outstanding year,” Gonzalez said. “He’s got Calvin Ridley on the other side to take the pressure off because he’ll be the No. 1 option it looks like. He’ll get a lot of one-on-one match ups and when he’s covered, he’s not covered. It’s kind of like when I played there. Matt, the first thing he said, was where do you like the ball. I like it up here. Throw it high. Let me go get that thing.”

Pitts may be the answer to the Falcons’ red zone woes.

“I’ve got to believe that in the red zone Kyle will be used a lot,” Gonzalez said. “Just line him out there and throw the ball up in the air. Get him one-on-one, nobody will be able to guard him.”

Gonzalez was a tireless worker. After his slow start, he’d catch passes before practice, during practice and he’d stay after practice.

“It’s about being the best player you can be,” Gonzalez said. “If he has that attitude, the sky is the limit for him. He’ll be one of the best tight ends in the NFL in a short amount of time.”

Gonzalez was elated that former teammate Justin Peelle is Pitts’ position coach.

Credit: Jason Getz jgetz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz jgetz@ajc.com

“That makes me more confident that he’s going to have … Justin did a great job with Zach Ertz and helped his career take off,” Gonzalez said. “He’s going to do the same thing for Kyle.”

Gonzalez also thinks having coach Arthur Smith is a plus for Pitts. Smith also was a tight end coach.

“Then Arthur Smith is a play-calling guru,” Gonzalez said. “I love the way he came in and established himself right away, making an unpopular decision in trading away Julio Jones. I think he’s a guy, who’s going to do it his way. He’s going to go out there and have great success.”

Peelle played nine seasons in the NFL, including the 2010 season with Gonzalez and the Falcons.

“For me Justin Peelle, that’s makes me happy that he’s going to be in that room with Kyle,” Gonzalez said. “Kyle is in for a great career. I think a big thing that’s really important is how you start your career. Who do you surround yourself with at the beginning kind of sets the tone.

“You learn how to do it the right way from the beginning. You’ve got a guy who’s going to hold you accountable. Justin Peelle will hold Kyle Pitts accountable. There’s going to be no Diva treatment there. It’s going to be like this is how you do it. I’m not here to baby you. You’re going to be better for it. That gives me a lot of confidence that Kyle is going to be great.”

2. Acting career: Gonzalez recently finishing shooting a show called “Long Slow Exhale” here in Atlanta that’s created and produced by Pam Veasey, the mother of Falcons cornerback Avery Williams. The drama series about a basketball coach, starring Rose Rollins and Josh Lucas, will air on BET.

Gonzalez’s recurring character is a former professional football player named Davon.

“This is my first kind of big role,” Gonzalez said. “I’m in like eight out of the 12 episodes. I play a father who has ALS. It’s a real deep acting role. I’ve been waiting for this type of opportunity. I got lucky in getting this opportunity. I’m glad to be a part of the show.”

3. Ring of Honor re-dedication: The Falcons are set to unveil a new location for the Ring of Honor inside of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The new dedication, which will be held Thursday, will honor current and future Ring of Honor inductees.

The new space is designed for fans to walk through the team’s history

In 2004, the Falcons started the Ring of Honor to celebrate key players throughout Falcons history that have made a meaningful impact to the team and to the fans.

In the new location, the 100-yard bar on the 300 level, each member will be featured.

4. Series history: This will be the 33rd regular-season meeting. The Eagles lead the series 17-14-1. The Falcons won the last regular season meeting 24-20 on Sept. 15, 2019. The teams have met four times in the playoffs with the Eagles holding a 3-1 advantage. The Eagles won the last playoff meeting 15-10 on Jan. 13, 2018 and went on to win Super Bowl LII.

5. The Script: The Falcons don’t know what the Eagles will run, but likely have to look back to their new coach Nick Sirianni’s three seasons as the offensive coordinator with the Colts.

“Their first 15 plays and then you’ll find out conceptually the way they are trying to beat us,” safety Duron Harmon said. “So, it’s going to be a game where you are going to have to read your keys. It’s not going to be so much, they give us this formation, you know it’s going to be that. We don’t know that, because the (exhibition) season is very vanilla. Nobody is really running what they want to run. They are just running their basic stuff.”

6. Captain Corner: The Eagles voted on their captains and selected quarterback Jalen Hurts, center Jason Kelce, defensive end Brandon Graham, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, linebacker Alex Singleton, and safety Rodney McLeod.

The Falcons have not picked their captains yet, but can anoint quarterback Matt Ryan and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.

Former Falcons coach Mike Smith would wait until after the season to let the players vote on the official captains.

7. Blitzing Hurts: The Falcons did show that they can blitz during the exhibition season. They had four sacks in the opener against Tennessee, one coming on a safety blitz.

“When you’ve got guys like we have with (center) Jason Kelce and Jalen Hurts, being able to talk through those things on the sideline when there’s a new wrinkle is key,” Eagle coach Nick Sirianni said. “It’s really good to have the veteran leadership that we have on this team, to be able go through that. Then Jalen is just really smart too, so we look forward to seeing how he handles that, those adjustments that we’ll have to make on Sunday.”

8. Eagles main Weapons: The Eagles also retained tight end Zach Ertz, the three-time Pro Bowler, who was reportedly on the trading block. With Ertz and Dallas Goedert, the Eagles have two quality tight ends.

“There are different things that we can do personnel-wise because we have good players on this roster,” Sirianni said. “Really excited to continue to game-planning for a guy like Zach Ertz.”

The Eagles also have wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who caught 117 passes for 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns last season at Alabama. The Heisman Trophy winner is expected to be a major contributor to the offense after being selected 10th overall in the 2021 NFL draft.

9. Depth chart: Here’s the Falcons official depth heading into the season opener against the Eagles:

OFFENSE

WR - Calvin Ridley, Tajae Sharpe or Christian Blake

TE - Kyle Pitts, Lee Smith

LT - Jake Matthews, Jason Spriggs

LG - Jaylen Mayfield, Colby Gossett

C - Matt Hennessy, Drew Dalman

RG - Chris Lindstrom, Drew Dalman

RT - Kaleb McGary, Jason Spriggs

TE - Hayden Hurst, Keith Smith

WR - Russell Gage, Olamide Zaccheaus, Frank Darby

RB - Mike Davis, Cordarrelle Patterson, Wayne Gallman

QB - Matt Ryan, Josh Rosen or Feleipe Franks

DEFENSE

DL - Grady Jarrett, Marlon Davidson

NT - Tyeler Davison, Ta’Quon Graham

DL - Jonathan Bullard, John Cominsky

OLB - Steven Means, Jacob Tuioti-Mariner or Brandon Copeland

ILB - Deion Jones, Mykal Walker

ILB - Foyesade Oluokun, Dorian Etheridge

OLB – Dante Fowler, Adetokunbo Ogundeji,

LCB - A.J. Terrell, T.J. Green, Avery Williams or Darren Hall

FS - Erik Harris, Jaylinn Hawkins Richie Grant

SS - Duron Harmon, Richie Grant

RCB - Fabian Moreau, Isaiah Oliver, Kendall Sheffield

SPECIAL TEAMS

K - Younghoe Koo

P - Cameron Nizialek

LS - Josh Harris

H - Cameron Nizialek

PR - Avery Williams

KOR - Cordarrelle Patterson

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