...Dennis Pitta, TE (BYU). another big, strong pass catching tight end. Why did the team take another TE in the draft this season, but it certainly reeks of the mantra, "Best Player Available."

6'4", 245 is a nice size and similar to their other tight end, Ed Dickson. Click here for NFL.com's take on Pitta.

UPDATED NOTES: Pitta was one of three finalist for the Mackey Award, given to the nation's best TE. Dropped just one of 76 balls targeted at him this past season. Caught eleven passes in the Red Zone. Third highest receiving yards in BYU history (2,901) behind the Colts' Austin Collie and Eric Drage (1990-93).

After his freshman year, Pitta went on a two-year LDS Church mission to the Dominican Republic.

UPDATED: Click on the 'Jump' to see my questions w/ him.

I asked Pitta a couple of questions when he called into the media room at Ravens HQ:

Beatdown: "Are you looking forward to catching passes from Joe Flacco?"

Pitta: "Yeah, I'm really excited to catch passes from Joe Flacco. And they also have another quarterback there named John Beck who I've played with before, so I'm excited to come into that situation. I just look at it as a great opportunity to prove what I'm capable of."

Beatdown: "Talk a bit about your blocking abilities?"

Pitta: "Blocking, I think, was a question mark for a lot of teams coming into the Draft simply because I hadn't done a lot of it at BYU. But, I think I've worked hard at it, and I think it's definitely something I'm improving on, and it's something I'm very capable of doing at the next level."