Your mismatch theory holds no water. Name 3 NFL TEs that put up better stats than Gallup?
WGAS about the stats though? There's no Lombardi trophy for having the best stats. All catches and yards are not equal. Situational football matters more than accumulating yards between the 20's.
I want an offense that can beat any situation in big games and in the playoffs when the best defenses are trying their best to stop us. Regardless of our offensive ranking in the past, we've not been good at that.
I would argue Pitts is the best contested ball receiver in the draft and improves our chances of getting those critical yards on third down or near the goal line. Michael Gallup will be better at catching a 25 yard pass than even the best-ever TE. You need both kinds of players.
Gronkowski and Edelman were very different kinds of receivers and each was critical to success of the Patriots last three Superbowl runs/wins. Cooper>Lamb>Gallup, and each is basically the same kind of receiver.
As for overall talent... Would I like Devonta Smith's Reek-like speed and acceleration in place of one of our WR's? Sure, but I'm not willing to dump a high pick for that small relative gain. But Pitts over Schultz is a big gain in situational effectiveness as well as production. I don't have to sit Gallup to use Pitts, and so I can have four great receiving talents on the field.
Again the top ten is about talent, both for now and the next 5 years. We don't know what our team will look like in 3 years-- we could have an amazing defense and rotting offense by then.
Sewell - Rousseau - Pitts - Parsons
The top ten should really emphasize BPA over need.
Slater - Farley - Surtain would be the next tier
