Madden 23 released its player ratings this week and Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts wants his numbers bumped up.
Entering his second season in the league, Pitts was given a solid overall rating of 87, making him the sixth-highest rated tight end in the game.
While also staring in a Madden promo, Pitts took to Twitter to let the game and Chad Johnson know that they were both sleeping on him.
Respectfully, the five tight ends rated above Pitts include, Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, 49ers’ George Kitte, Raven’ Mark Andrews, Raiders’ Darren Waller and Lions’ T.J. Hockenson.
Per Ari Meirov, here are the top 15 rated NFL tight ends in Madden 23:
Travis Kelce: 98
George Kittle: 97
Mark Andrews: 93
Darren Waller: 91
TJ Hockenson: 89
Kyle Pitts: 87
Mike Gesicki: 86
Dallas Goedert: 85
Hunter Henry: 84
Zach Ertz: 84
Dawson Knox: 83
Tyler Higbee: 83
Dalton Schultz: 82
Noah Fant: 82
Evan Engram: 81
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Pitts Was the Highest Rated Rookie in 2021
Ahead of his first season in the NFL, Madden 22 had Pitts rated as the highest rookie with an 81 rating:
Falcons TE Kyle Pitts – 81
Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence – 78
Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle – 76
Broncos CB Pat Surtain II – 76
Jets QB Zach Wilson – 75
Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase – 75
Eagles WR DeVonta Smith – 75
Lions OT Penei Sewell – 75
49ers QB Trey Lance – 74
Bears QB Justin Fields – 74
A rookie had not been given a rating above 80 ahead of the season since Madden 19 was released when Colts’ guard Quentin Nelson received an 83.
However, Pitts still did not crack the top-10 rated tight ends that year as he did this year:
Travis Kelce: 99
George Kittle: 96
Darren Waller: 93
Mark Andrews: 88
Hunter Henry: 87
Austin Hooper: 86
Rob Gronkowski: 86
Mike Gesicki: 85
T.J. Hockenson: 85
Dallas Goedert: 84
Top 10 Tight Ends in the Game 🏈
And now he jumps a handful of them, nearly making it in the top 5.
Pitts Attended TEU, Again
For the second straight year, Pitts attended the inaugural Tight End University summit, which kicked off on June 22.
San Francisco 49ers George Kittle, joined by the Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce and ex-Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen, started the special event for the NFL’s top tight ends only, mixed with a few lucky QBs. So, through June 24, some of the league’s most elite tight ends gathered in Nashville to share techniques and ideas with each other.
While we don’t know all of the secrets that the highly-touted vets shared with Pitts and the others, we caught a glimpse of some of the advice he received:
“You always want to be moving forward,” Kelce told Pitts in a video clip posted to Twitter. “There’s always a time and place to dance with somebody at the line (of scrimmage), but you (want to come forward) instead of just coming sideways because that’s not going to threaten anyone.”
.@tkelce passing his knowledge down to @kylepitts__ at @te_university. What it’s all about. 🙌
While Pitts didn’t score any touchdowns on American soil during his rookie campaign, his impressive 1,026 receiving yards were the most by a rookie tight end since Hall of Famer Mike Ditka back in 1961.
Pitts now enters the 2022 season as the Falcons’ No. 1 target and is a lot more “seasoned” than he was in Year 1, which means we should see a big jump in his game––giving Madden 24 all the reason the bump him up to a 90.
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Falcons TE Kyle Pitts Reacts to Madden 23 Ratings