Kyle Pitts start or sit: Week 12 fantasy football advice

Week 12 of the 2025 NFL season rolls on this afternoon with a bitter NFC South rivalry featuring the Atlanta Falcons visiting the New Orleans Saints at 4:25 p.m. ET on FOX.

The Falcons’ season has gone down in flames as their 30-27 overtime defeat at the hands of the Panthers last Sunday marked their fifth straight loss, killing any faint hope of a late-season playoff purge. To make matters even worse, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. went down with a partially torn ACL that will end his season, thrusting Kirk Cousins into duty for the rest of the campaign. Throw in Drake London’s knee injury and you have an offense in crisis mode at the moment, leaving weapons like tight end Kyle Pitts to pick up the slack.

Below, we’ll go over Pitts’ outlook in fantasy football for Week 12.

Pitts caught just two of three targets for 14 yards in last week’s loss to the Panthers, his least productive game of the season. That marked the third straight game where he was held under 40 receiving yards and as has been the case for the majority of his five-year career, he’s been underwhelming as a fantasy option. He does have the second-highest catch rate among starting tight ends at 75.8%, but those receptions haven’t really moved the needle as he has the second-lowest total EPA among his peers.

He’ll be matched up against a Saints defense that has been a middle of the road unit against opposing tight ends, yielding 8.4 fantasy points per game. We’ll see if the veteran can put up good numbers with Cousins now operating the controls at QB.

Sit. Pitts has not made much of a difference in this NFC South rivalry, averaging just 2.1 receptions and 27.6 yards in seven career games against the Saints. Unless you’re pressed for a tight end option in deeper leagues, I’m looking elsewhere and passing on the Falcons pass-catcher this week.