Pittsburgh Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth has quickly become one of the best young TEs in football, making several top 10 lists at the position while being named an undervalued and potential breakout candidate at the position heading into his third season. Freiermuth has quickly become this team’s franchise TE, something it has missed since Heath Miller decided to hang up the cleats back in 2015.
Freiermuth took a step forward in his sophomore season when it came to snaps as well as usage on the field. Alex Kay of Bleacher Report expects Freiermuth to take another notable leap forward, listing him as one of five players set to deliver even bigger seasons in 2023.
“While the 24-year-old’s 63 receptions in 2022 were only three more than his rookie amount, his receiving yardage went from 497 to 732,” Kay wrote of Freiermuth. “His touchdown contributions fell from seven to two, but that should tick back up in an offense set to make considerable strides this coming season. The 6’5″, 258-pounder has earned Pickett’s trust and will remain a key pass-catcher as the team opens up the playbook more for the young signal-caller.
Given the Steelers didn’t make any notable additions to the receiving corps outside of a dice roll on fading veteran Allen Robinson II, Freiermuth’s usage should only continue to trend upward in 2023.”
Freiermuth’s TDs may have plummeted from his rookie campaign due to Pittsburgh throwing the least amount of TD passes in the league last season, but the Penn State product improved in nearly every other metric. His snaps went from 683 in 2021 to 743 in 2022 and had his target jump from 79 as a rookie to 98 last season. His receiving yardage went from 497 to 732 from 2021 to 2022 and his YPR jumped from 8.3 to 11.6. In fact, after Chase Claypool got traded prior to the trade deadline, Freiermuth was Pittsburgh’s leader in targets per route run rate (23 percent) and ranked 6th the league at TE in targets per game.
It may be difficult for Freiermuth’s receiving yardage totals to take yet another leap in 2023 if we expect George Pickens to take another leap this coming season as well as Diontae Johnson, Allen Robinson II, Calvin Austin III, and Darnell Washington all factoring into the passing game. However, Freiermuth’s play can reach another level with increased scoring opportunities coming closer to the seven scores he had back in 2021.
Given the fact that Freiermuth has become a reliable security blanket for QB Kenny Pickett in his first NFL season, it’s not unreasonable to project 800-900 receiving yards and 5-7 TDs for the young TE heading into his third NFL season.
