The Atlanta Falcons will face the New Orleans Saints in Week 10. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding TE Kyle Pitts.
Is Kyle Pitts Playing in Week 10?
Pitts has stayed healthy this season and is on pace for his best campaign since his 2021 rookie year. On Wednesday, however, the Atlanta Falcons tight end popped up on the club’s injury report for the first time in 2024.
Pitts is dealing with a hamstring injury. Fortunately, he managed to log limited practices on both Wednesday and Thursday. Pitts put in a full practice on Friday and was removed from Atlanta’s injury report.
Pitts’ hamstring issue may have bothered him in Week 9, when he played 54% of Atlanta’s offensive snaps (his second-lowest rate of the year) while earning his worst target share (4.2%) of the season.
We’ll continue to monitor the Falcons’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Kyle Pitts in Week 10?
One week after Kyle Pitts landed a pair of long touchdowns, he earned one target in what looked, on paper, like a strong matchup against the Cowboys.
Ugh.
When my wife looks at me and asks why my eyes are bloodshot and points to gray hair, she knows the cause. Attempting to pin the tail on Pitts’ production is a struggle I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy, especially if you’re trying to live a balanced life.
So now what? What does Week 10 hold? These Saints kept Pitts off the stat sheet in the Week 4 meeting (three targets on 24 routes), but I’m smarter than that. I’m smarter than taking evidence and suggesting that it has anything to do with Pitts’ future.
Pitts’ two lowest route participation marks this season have come in the past two weeks, and that has me trending away from him this week, but I’d be lying if I said it was with great levels of confidence.
The Saints are taking on water and just allowed Ja’Tavion Sanders to turn five targets into 87 yards. Ruling Pitts out of lineups (season-long or DFS) isn’t my move, but neither is locking him in.
See why the gray hairs present themselves?
I have him ranked as my TE8 this week, understanding that a TE3 or TE23 finish is more likely. This is a bet against the direction of New Orleans more than anything — how lucky do you feel?
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 10 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Kyle Pitts’ Fantasy Points Projection in Week 10
As of Sunday, Pitts is projected to score 11.9 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 4.3 receptions for 60.1 yards and 0.3 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight on the Saints’ Defense
When you look at the performance of the New Orleans Saints’ defense this year, it is not a major surprise that their defensive-minded head coach is gone. With the offense struggling, the team seemingly lost, and the defense having its worst performance in our six-year database, it likely made for an easy decision for the team.
The Saints’ biggest issue this year has been their run game, but they have also struggled to sustain pressure and sack the quarterback. None of the other numbers are that bad, but there is not much positive to point to either.
Do you want more insight on all other defensive units across the NFL? Head over to our PFN Defense+ Rankings for analysis on all 32 teams.
Kyle Pitts’ Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 3:45 AM ET on Wednesday, December 25. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Weekly Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 17 TE PPR Rankings
1) Brock Bowers | LV (at NO)
2) Trey McBride | ARI (at LAR)
3) Jonnu Smith | MIA (at CLE)
4) George Kittle | SF (vs. DET)
5) Sam LaPorta | DET (at SF)
6) David Njoku | CLE (vs. MIA)
7) Mark Andrews | BAL (at HOU)
8) T.J. Hockenson | MIN (vs. GB)
9) Travis Kelce | KC (at PIT)
10) Dalton Schultz | HOU (vs. BAL)
11) Pat Freiermuth | PIT (vs. KC)
12) Dalton Kincaid | BUF (vs. NYJ)
13) Chigoziem Okonkwo | TEN (at JAX)
14) Tucker Kraft | GB (at MIN)
15) Brenton Strange | JAX (vs. TEN)
16) Jake Ferguson | DAL (at PHI)
17) Hunter Henry | NE (vs. LAC)
18) Juwan Johnson | NO (vs. LV)
19) Stone Smartt | LAC (at NE)
20) Zach Ertz | WAS (vs. ATL)
21) Kyle Pitts | ATL (at WAS)
22) Mike Gesicki | CIN (vs. DEN)
23) Cade Otton | TB (vs. CAR)
24) Noah Gray | KC (at PIT)
25) Isaiah Likely | BAL (at HOU)
26) Cole Kmet | CHI (vs. SEA)
27) Austin Hooper | NE (vs. LAC)
28) Grant Calcaterra | PHI (vs. DAL)
29) Noah Fant | SEA (at CHI)
30) Ja'Tavion Sanders | CAR (at TB)
31) Foster Moreau | NO (vs. LV)
32) Tyler Higbee | LAR (vs. ARI)
33) Michael Mayer | LV (at NO)
34) Tommy Tremble | CAR (at TB)
35) Daniel Bellinger | NYG (vs. IND)
36) Dawson Knox | BUF (vs. NYJ)
37) Tyler Conklin | NYJ (at BUF)
38) Payne Durham | TB (vs. CAR)
39) Jordan Akins | CLE (vs. MIA)
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints Insights
Atlanta Falcons
Team: The Falcons are averaging 13.8 plays per game of 10-plus yards, sixth most in the league and up 11% from a season ago.
QB: Football can be such a complicated game, but it can also be remarkably simple. Over his past two games, when Kirk Cousins has stayed in the pocket, he’s been as good as anyone in the league: 42-53 for 498 yards, seven touchdowns, and zero interceptions (145.4 passer rating).
Offense: Despite having a strong running game, no team runs play-action nearly as rarely as the Falcons (8.3% of offensive plays, the Cowboys rank 31st at 10.6%).
Defense: The Falcons own the lowest sack rate in the league (2.7% of opponent dropbacks, league average: 7.1%).
Fantasy: Darnell Mooney, entering this season, averaged 735 receiving yards per 17 games and had a career-high of four touchdown receptions in a season – through nine weeks, he has 588 receiving yards and has caught five touchdown passes.
Betting: The Falcons are 7-3 ATS (70%) in their past 10 divisional road games (2-0 ATS this season with over tickets cashing in both of those instances).
New Orleans Saints
Team: The Saints have lost seven straight games, their longest skid of the 2000s. Three of those losses have come by a field goal or less.
QB: Derek Carr threw five touchdown passes on 39 attempts through Week 2 – he’s thrown four touchdown passes on 120 attempts since.
Offense: Since Week 3, the Saints are the sixth worst offense in the league in terms of yards per play
Defense: The Saints have the sixth lowest opponent passer rating against (80.2, league average: 91.5).
Fantasy: Three times this season has a running back carried the rock 10 times while seeing at least eight targets in consecutive games:
- Alvin Kamara (Weeks 4-6)
- De’Von Achane (Weeks 8-9)
- Alvin Kamara (Weeks 8-9)
Betting: The Saints have seen their past five home games played within the division finish more than 16 points off of the spread (each of the past three by more than 20 points).