As the start of the regular season draws near, the hype surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers — especially on the offensive side of the football — is seemingly at an all-time high.
Second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett is Good Morning Football’s top breakout candidate for 2023, second-year wide receiver George Pickens looks like the next great receiver in the NFL, and the running back duo of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren is poised to have an impressive season overall behind a rebuilt offensive line that looks rather good.
There is one guy who is seemingly overlooked though and not generating as much attention offensively that probably should be. That would be third-year tight end Pat Freiermuth.
Fortunately for Freiermuth, CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan is on board with the former Penn State standout, calling him a breakout tight end candidate in 2023 for CBSSports.com Tuesday.
“Freiermuth is coming off what could already be considered a breakout campaign a year ago where he saw 98 targets and was sixth among all tight ends with 732 receiving yards. From a statistical standpoint, however, Freiermuth’s ceiling does appear like it can stretch a bit beyond what we’ve seen throughout his first two seasons in the league,” Sullivan writes regarding Freiermuth’s potential breakout season. “[Kenny] Pickett has already shown an affinity for throwing to tight ends and had a solid rapport with Freiermuth after becoming the starter in Week Five. The duo got off to a somewhat sluggish start with Freiermuth receiving just two targets in Pickett’s first start and then the tight end was inactive for Pittsburgh’s Week 6 game against Tampa Bay. Upon his return in Week Seven, however, the two went on a seven-game run that featured some prolific play.
“In those seven games, Freiermuth caught 33 passes for 395 yards. Things stalled out a bit after that — which included a zero-target game for Freiermuth in Week 15 — but we are anticipating more consistent play from Pickett and, in turn, more consistency from his pass catchers.”
While much of the attention offensively is focused on Diontae Johnson and Pickens at receiver for Pickett, the steady presence of Freiermuth is equally important, and he is in line for a huge season overall. As Sullivan writes, the rapport between the two is rather strong. After Pickett was inserted into the lineup last season, the duo quietly became a great one.
Thirty-three receptions for 395 yards over seven games is rather remarkable. If that were to play out over a 17-game season, that’s 80 receptions and 959 yards. The Steelers would absolutely take that from their burgeoning star at tight end.
Through two seasons, Freiermuth has hauled in 123 passes for 1,229 yards and nine touchdowns. That included a stellar rookie season in 2021 with Ben Roethlisberger under center, hauling in 60 passes for 497 yards and seven touchdowns. In Year Two, Freiermuth increased his receptions to 63 and yards to 732, but the touchdowns didn’t follow as the Steelers had some struggles in the red zone offensively.
Freiermuth certainly is one of the most exciting young tight ends in the NFL, in large part due to his consistency, both from a production standpoint and with his hands in general. He seemingly catches everything and is a chain-moving machine. His 37 receptions that went for first downs last season was fifth-best among tight ends in the NFL.
He has a chance to set an NFL record at the tight end position with three seasons to open his career with 60-plus receptions, putting him in rare air. As long as he’s able to stay healthy, he should reach 60 receptions once again. Pickett trusts him and looks his way often. That should lead to a big breakout season like CBS Sports is projecting.
Doing so would make him a household name at the tight end position, too.
