Pitta Love

**PerpetuallyBored74** · 01-21-2013, 08:08 PM

Dickson needs to buy a JUGS machine and practice with it.
All.
The.
Time.

Imagine a TE duo of Pitta and a good-hands Dickson.
Gronk and Hernandez would have some serious competition (at least as receivers because both Pitta and Dickson need to improve their blocking).

**organizedchaos21** · 01-21-2013, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by AirFlacco

Dickson made a great play vs Piss for a TD his rookie year with TP trailing him across the field and into the end zone.
That was when we let Heap and Mason go and got younger and faster with Dickson and Torrey and PItta.

Then he had the drops. He missed one yesterday in the first half that hit off his hands.

This was last year in the season opener. His big play in his rookie year came against the Saints on a TE screen type play against a big blitz. He caught a 5 yard pass and turned it into a 42 yard TD, trucking one guy in the process.

**wickedsolo** · 01-21-2013, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by JAB1985

Seems like forever ago when people argued that dickson was better...

I can honestly say that I was always on the Pitta train. I watched several of his games in college and was stoked when we drafted him.

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**wickedsolo** · 01-21-2013, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by organizedchaos21

This was last year in the season opener. His big play in his rookie year came against the Saints on a TE screen type play against a big blitz. He caught a 5 yard pass and turned it into a 42 yard TD, trucking one guy in the process.

Seems like he can make the tough catches, but the routine catches are the plays he screws up.

That's why I think his issues are more mental than anything, which is worse because sometimes you can fix inconsistent hands, but fixing mental issues is very difficult and often not worth the effort.

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**ActualSpamBot** · 01-21-2013, 10:42 PM

Originally Posted by JAB1985

Seems like forever ago when people argued that dickson was better...

Preseason I was on the Dickson side of the argument. Prior to this year he had been more productive. But he was also given more chances.

Once Pitta's connection to Flacco evolved, the coaches wisely switched the lineup and gave those chances to Pitta and he took great advantage of them.

Clearly Pitta is now the better option, but it wasn't as cut and dry as that as recently the 2012 training camp.

**AirFlacco** · 01-21-2013, 11:21 PM

That's because Dickson was deemed the better athlete with size and speed and getting separation but they
found out he had the dropsies. Not sure why they said that because PItta never dropped a ball in college and
was famous for catching them in heavy traffic which he has done here like the last time vs SF when JOe drilled
one between two defenders all over Pitta and he caught it for a big TD. Did the same thing Sunday.

**leachisabeast** · 01-21-2013, 11:42 PM

Dennis Pitta was the typical example of a mid round prospect that everyone on this board covets, so its great to see one of them drafted by the Ravens that worked out well. Pitta may end up as a pro bowl type TE in this offense. We need to get another one to compliment him though.

**Irish Raven** · 01-21-2013, 11:54 PM

I remember being desperate to draft Jermaine Gresham in the 1st round

Still a good player but he's no Pitta!

**leachisabeast** · 01-22-2013, 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by Irish Raven

I remember being desperate to draft Jermaine Gresham in the 1st round

Still a good player but he's no Pitta!

Although Pitta was drafted a year later than him in 2010. Overall our 2010 draft was poor, with an average player and a total bust as our top two picks. Then you have Dickson who's just very average in the 3rd round. Arthur Jones and Dennis Pitta were really the only two good picks.

That 09 draft is turning out to be a solid draft though. Oher looks like a decent RT, worth a first round pick IMO. Paul Kruger is emerging as one of the top 3-4 OLB pass rushers in the league, then of course we had Webb in the 3rd round.

**JAB1985** · 01-22-2013, 06:48 AM

Originally Posted by wickedsolo

I can honestly say that I was always on the Pitta train. I watched several of his games in college and was stoked when we drafted him.

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As was i. To me it was about efficiency and he clearly made the most of his opportunities.

Originally Posted by ActualSpamBot

Preseason I was on the Dickson side of the argument. Prior to this year he had been more productive. But he was also given more chances.

Once Pitta's connection to Flacco evolved, the coaches wisely switched the lineup and gave those chances to Pitta and he took great advantage of them.

Clearly Pitta is now the better option, but it wasn't as cut and dry as that as recently the 2012 training camp.

It was pretty clear by the end of the previous year. Even by stats and not the eye test. He was catching 70%+ of his catches to dickson being closer to 60%. Prorated over an entire season with more opportunities and you have what we have now. I wouldnt say he got much better since hes been here its just that dickson didnt progress like they hoped he would have. To me, and at least some others apparently, it was pretty obvious who the better TE was.

**Kyle Cactus** · 01-23-2013, 08:26 AM

Pitta is fast becoming one of my favorite Ravens. He's definitely not the flashiest player, but he does the important things well.

Case in point, he's not incredibly fast, but he does a good job of creating separation when he makes a cut. If you watch the TD in the AFC CG, he makes his cut so smoothly and effortlessly that the defender is frozen with indecision over which direction he's going to go. That creates the momentary separation that made it an easy TD. Earlier in the game he also had a great shimmy to get separation off the line for what I believe was a 3rd down conversion. It was the play right over the middle where Joe threw it a little high, but Pitta hauled it in and his separation was so good that he still had time to come down and turn up-field before being hit.

And of course he has great hands. He and Boldin both have the confidence in their hands to attack the ball. This allows them to make plays when blanketed by defenders.

**GOTA** · 01-23-2013, 08:42 AM

I had never even thought to look at Pitta as a prospect until shas kept on posting about how impressive he was. What I saw was someone who was too slow and old before he even came into the league. That was a very deep TE draft. Aaron Hernandez was the guy I really wanted but I was still excited when Ozzie took Dickson. Pitta I thought was insurance, a NFL ready player who because he was older could step in right away if Dickson wasn't ready.

Everything shas posted about Pitta was on target. Not fast, but knows how to get open. He catches anything and everything close to him. He has no problems making that tough catch knowing that he's going to get smashed by a flying LB or safety. I haven't seen shas excited by too many prospects, Calvin Johnson being the other big one, but when he talks someone up he's worth listening to.