Pitta was always the more reliable player, Dickson was just the superior athlete. After 2 years the staff and Flacco have decided to rely on the better player and inferior athlete. On an offense void of a #3, this is legit.'Stinkin Ref said:there were indications that the torch was being passed at the end of last year....it has continued....there is room for some very solid fantasy points from the BAL TE...I see no reason why it's not legit....I believe Pitta may have approached the plug in and play territory of TE's.....start with confidence....
The Pats should be more concerned about Rice and Smith, my expectations are tempered a bit this week for Rice but obviously have to start him.Is Pitta the best option in the Ravens offense?NE is famous for taking their oppositions best option out of the game, as they did with Fitzgerald last week (1 catch, 4 yards).Or does Ray Rice receive a knock this week and Pitta a boost?
Hi, Cam Cameron. Welcome to the forums!By the way, you might want to take another look at this guy on your team called Ray Freaking Rice. The rest of the world thinks he's pretty good.Is Pitta the best option in the Ravens offense?
I like Pitta more for receptions; Bennett more for potential TDs.Thoughts on him vs. Bennett? Both are available on the wire in my league
I had to make this decision as well and went with Dennis Pitta. It's pretty close, but ultimately I think Bennett is a bonehead and I don't trust him. He could totally out produce Pitta though, no denying that.Thoughts on him vs. Bennett? Both are available on the wire in my league
With Nicks out THIS WEEK, I like Bennett, hands down. Pitta will not continue to be targeted like he was in the Eagles game but is still likely to catch 4-6 balls a week if the Ravens offense continues to throw the ball like they have in the first two weeks of 2012. I'll echo the thought that Bennett is the better choice in TD heavy leagues while Pitta will be more productive in PPR leagues.Thoughts on him vs. Bennett? Both are available on the wire in my league
thisAfter two weeks, Pitta leads the league in targets for a TE.He'd be third among WRs, in fact.I think you have to consider him a top 10 fantasy TE at this point. I'm in the minority, but I actually think he's borderline top five.
On top of this, I can remember watching the Combine the year Pitta came out and saying to myself, "I don't know who this Pitta guy is, but he's one hell of a WR!".I didn't know he was a TE at the time. Yep, he looked that good.Living in Utah I get to watch a lot of BYU games (but I am a proud Utah fan) and I always remember Pitta at BYU making catch after catch, the guy rarely dropped a pass. Flacco is looking for him often as the security blanket and word is that the two are very close friends off the field. I would ride the hot hand here, as Dickson is a nice option 2 but Flacco doesn't trust him and he doesn't seem to have the great hands as Pitta has.
In PPR leagues there's no question his upside is high. If he ends up being a top Red Zone target he could very well reach the status you mention. He sure looks like the No. 1 option in the Baltimore passing game right now and as the stats I posted earlier show this isn't a new development. It looks very much like a trend to me and one that could continue. He runs good routes, has great hands and Flacco clearly trusts him. There's a lot to like here.I think you have to consider him a top 10 fantasy TE at this point. I'm in the minority, but I actually think he's borderline top five.
I'd take Bennett with Knicks out. There's still another TE in Baltimore and Bennett seems to be the only one in NY.Thoughts on him vs. Bennett? Both are available on the wire in my league
Also, Eli always forcefeeds his TEs to good effect more or less regardless of talent. Whereas if the Ravens have any sense, they'll ease up on this absurd Flacco-centric offense and start giving the ball to Rice more. I know Cam Cameron has a long history of unbelievable stupidity, but I don't like to bet on teams failing to see the obvious.I'd take Bennett with Knicks out. There's still another TE in Baltimore and Bennett seems to be the only one in NY.Thoughts on him vs. Bennett? Both are available on the wire in my league
I bet if you broke down the snap count by designed runs vs. designed pass attempts his percentage would be significantly higher. He's almost always on the field when the Ravens have designed pass plays. Dickson's on the field for the designed runs.Pitta got eighty million targets but was only on the field 63% of the time (Dickson is at 51%). I figured he was on the field a lot more than that.
thanks - I only have access to the snapcounts. PFF makes you pay now for the pass route information.I bet if you broke down the snap count by designed runs vs. designed pass attempts his percentage would be significantly higher. He's almost always on the field when the Ravens have designed pass plays. Dickson's on the field for the designed runs.Pitta got eighty million targets but was only on the field 63% of the time (Dickson is at 51%). I figured he was on the field a lot more than that.
The targets don't lie. He is tied for 5th in total targets in the league after 2 games. I doubt he maintains this pace over the season. But he doesn't have to if he keeps getting looks.Will defenses adjust to him getting so many targets now? I don't know if Pitta is the kind of player who can overcome more focus from defenses. The Ravens do have other options if a defense ever does however. This week will be interesting. Maybe Belichick solves how to play the Ravens and teams learn from it. Right now Pitta is on pace to get 92 catches. But even if he only got half the targets moving forward that he has averaged the last 2 games, at his current catch rate he would end up with 67 catches EOY. Splitting the difference of current pace and 50% of current targets moving forward 77 catches. To me this suggests he will have similar numbers this season to what Gonzalez has been doing the past 3 seasons. That certainly will compete for top 5 TE unless TE across the board sees another surge bumping him out of contention for it.After two weeks, Pitta leads the league in targets for a TE.He'd be third among WRs, in fact.I think you have to consider him a top 10 fantasy TE at this point. I'm in the minority, but I actually think he's borderline top five.
I think this is a legit concern. Especially this week with mastermind Belichick scheming against him.And while I can't stand Marty Bennett as a person (based on his Hard Knocks days plus subsequent interviews), he seems to have the better situation for continued success this season - lack of other TE competition plus not one but two stud WRs to take the defensive heat.'Biabreakable said:I don't know if Pitta is the kind of player who can overcome more focus from defenses.
Because it wasn't clear if he or Dickson would be the one stepping up, or if they'd even just keep being a real-life-effective but fantasy-impotent TE team. Now we've seen that Pitta has been fully installed as the receiving TE, so there you go.'SameSongNDance said:The Hernandez injury forced my hand but I was extremely relieved that he was available for me to grab this week. I'm hopping on the train, the stats (targets, catch rate, snap count) almost seem too good to be true. How did this guy go under the radar like this?
Dennis Pitta has moved ahead of Ed Dickson on the Ravens' official depth chart.It's a mere formality. Through two games, Pitta has racked up 13 catches for 138 yards and a touchdown on an absurd 23 targets. Dickson has faded to the background with a 3/45/0 line on seven targets. Pitta is on the TE1 radar heading into Sunday's showdown with the Patriots.
Targets can be a deceptive stat. A pass thrown 10 feet over a player's head that is clearly uncatchable is a target. A pass thrown out of bounds where the receiver has no chance to catch the ball is a target. Having watched both Baltimore games, I haven't seen any issues with Pitta that would concern me going forward in terms of him catching passes he should catch. Flacco's misfired on some of the targets. I can't recall any off the top of my head that I thought Pitta should've caught that he didn't. Overall, I think he's been very impressive and what the number of targets accurately represents is the huge role he's had and the trust Flacco clearly has in him.Can anyone that has seen the Ravens first two games this season comment on how a guy that hasn't dropped a pass in over a season has only 13 catches on 24 targets? I get that everyone's jumping on the bandwagon and he's been very productive in terms of targets, but that is a pretty brutal catch/target percentage if you simply look at stats w/o having seen the games. Has Flacco been erratic, does Pitta have a very limited catch radius - what's the scoop here?
Thanks for the info. I'm looking forward to seeing the Ravens this week and will be looking to see if Pitta's the type of guy that's only capable of making catches that are on him or if he's athletic enough to go up/away to get balls that aren't perfect. The catch/target percentage is the only red flag I see so far.Targets can be a deceptive stat. A pass thrown 10 feet over a player's head that is clearly uncatchable is a target. A pass thrown out of bounds where the receiver has no chance to catch the ball is a target. Having watched both Baltimore games, I haven't seen any issues with Pitta that would concern me going forward in terms of him catching passes he should catch. Flacco's misfired on some of the targets. I can't recall any off the top of my head that I thought Pitta should've caught that he didn't. Overall, I think he's been very impressive and what the number of targets accurately represents is the huge role he's had and the trust Flacco clearly has in him.Can anyone that has seen the Ravens first two games this season comment on how a guy that hasn't dropped a pass in over a season has only 13 catches on 24 targets? I get that everyone's jumping on the bandwagon and he's been very productive in terms of targets, but that is a pretty brutal catch/target percentage if you simply look at stats w/o having seen the games. Has Flacco been erratic, does Pitta have a very limited catch radius - what's the scoop here?
2nd TE drafted on the Ravens in the same season, day 3 pick, concussion problems rookie year, lockout, Dickson hot start to 2011, Pitta came on a little towards the end of 2011 but lost all momentum when he missed almost all of camp because he broke his hand.'SameSongNDance said:The Hernandez injury forced my hand but I was extremely relieved that he was available for me to grab this week. I'm hopping on the train, the stats (targets, catch rate, snap count) almost seem too good to be true. How did this guy go under the radar like this?