Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: TE Pat Freiermuth
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Despite scoring a touchdown in the season opener, the tight end’s third season had gotten off to an underwhelming start. He was able to improve upon that in Sunday night’s victory with his best and most energetic game of the season.
Pat Freiermuth saw a season-high 49 snaps on Sunday night in the Steelers’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders. While the stat sheet was kind to him relative to the first games, his performance as a whole was better, particularly in both his effort and execution in his run-blocking assignments, which were more numerous than previously.
Still, none of that can take away from the fact that the highlight of his night was his work in the passing game. After having just two catches in the first two weeks for less than 10 yards, he caught three passes the last time out for 41 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown on a corner route on a well-thrown ball by QB Kenny Pickett.
Truth be told, it was a well-schemed play with the defender biting hard on the play-action by Pickett with Jaylen Warren in the backfield. This clearly looked like the move all the way, the quarterback rolling out to his left and finding Freiermuth wide open, with no defenders near him, with nice touch and a bit of zip on the pass.
It was a key moment that put the Steelers up substantially, enough to survive the Raiders’ comeback attempt, but it was more of a capper for Freiermuth on what was by far his best game of the three this year. He already had a 14-yard catch two plays earlier to get the team into field goal range, and another 14-yard reception earlier in the game.
As mentioned, his run-blocking was also more effortful this time around. While not the focal point in this clip, you can see his willingness to absorb the drive of the defender and maintain just enough leverage to allow Warren through for a nice gain.
Most of the team got off to a slow start this season, though to be fair, the San Francisco 49ers are not the easiest opponent to wake up to. They are one of only three remaining unbeaten teams for a reason. Freiermuth should continue to improve from here on out, and hopefully see a steady role in the passing game, which is his strength.
