The market for MyCole Pruitt is apparently heating up. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tweets that the veteran tight end visited with the Ravens this week and is set to meet with the 49ers next week.
After bouncing around the league a bit, Pruitt found a home in Tennessee in 2018. While the former fifth-rounder never put up big numbers during his stint with the Titans (20 receptions for 241 yards and one score), he had a consistent role as a blocking tight end, appearing in 42 games (15 starts) in three years. Pruitt also saw time in five playoff games for Tennessee, hauling in six receptions.
We learned last month that MyCole Pruitt was drawing interest from the Vikings. The tight end actually started his career with Minnesota back in 2015.
While both the 49ers (George Kittle) and Ravens (Mark Andrews) have Pro Bowl tight ends, they could still probably offer Pruitt a solid amount of playing time. In San Francisco, Ross Dwelley is the main backup behind Kittle, with 2020 sixth-round Charlie Woerner and undrafted free agent Josh Pederson rounding out the depth chart.
Baltimore’s depth chart is a bit more crowded, as the team is currently rostering seven tight ends. That includes long-time Raven Nick Boyle, veteran journeyman Eric Tomlinson, and former third-rounder Josh Oliver, who the team traded for this offseason. The team is also rostering 2020 undrafted free agents Jake Breeland and Eli Wolf, and they added 2021 undrafted free agent Tony Poljan earlier this month.
I’m not sure how much Pruitt stands in either of those crowded TE rooms. He had a couple of flashes in Tennessee, but he was never really a significant piece of the offense, and both San Fran and Baltimore have similar players who have had similar moments. Pruitt could well be suited as a third or even second option on a needy team, but I’m not sure either the 49ers or Ravens exactly for that description.
I hope the Vikings take another run at him. He’d be the best blocking tight end we’ve had since David Morgan, or Rhett Ellison before him, or maybe even going all the way back to Jim Kleinsasser. He’s a quality, rotational TE3, and a favorite of Derrick Henry, who told Pruitt’s agent in 2020, “Make sure Pruitt is back in Tennessee. I can’t do what I do without him.” If the Vikes had drafted a college blocking specialist, or if Hale Hentges hadn’t retired, there’d be no need for Pruitt, but now he’d fill that role on another team running a balanced, run/pass offense.
Don’t know how good the Niners’ back-up TE’s are at blocking, but I can imagine they’d want a Pruitt-like option as insurance if Kittle missed a chunk of time again this year. Pruitt’s not lost with the ball in his hands, either. He was a prolific pass catcher in college.