When you stick around in the NFL for 18 years like former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did, there is due to be a lot of turnover in terms of teammates, especially those you throw the ball to. But one constant for Roethlisberger was TE Heath Miller. The two played 11 years together, and forged a great connection on the field.
It’s safe to say then, that Roethlisberger knows the value of having a strong tight end. He talked about making current Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth a bigger part of the offense throughout the game on the latest episode of his podcast, Footbahlin.
“I’d like to see Pat [Freiermuth] more involved.” Roethlisberger mentioned. “I didn’t like last year – I thought Pat got involved late in games. When crunch time happens, you got him the ball. I’d like to see him get involved early. Maybe some nakeds, some over-the-middle type stuff, like get him involved early on. I’d like to see that because he’s one of your best players.”
Freiermuth received 98 targets last season, which tied for fifth in the league, only trailing the Kansas City Chief Travis Kelce, Minnesota Viking T.J. Hockenson, Baltimore Raven Mark Andrews, and Los Angeles Ram Tyler Higbee. From this look, it seems like the Steelers did a good job of getting him involved, but dig a little deeper and you see a different story.
Out of his 98 targets, Freiermuth received 35% of them in the fourth quarter or overtime. In addition to this, both of his touchdowns last season also came in the fourth quarter, both coming from QB Mitch Trubisky. The splits did even out a little bit yardage-wise once Kenny Pickett took over, but Roethlisberger was right on the money with his callout.
It makes sense that in crunch time, you want to look for your security blanket in a tight end with good hands and an ability to get open. But there’s no reason that you can’t keep that same mindset early in the game too. We’ve seen tight ends around the league begin to get paid more and more, and Freiermuth could be in line for a big extension soon. If he’s going to be worth the money, he’s going to need to be a guy who does it the whole game.
The hype around George Pickens and optimism around Diontae Johnson’s potential positive touchdown regression have been focal points of the offseason. But many may be forgetting about Freiermuth, who gives the Steelers’ offense and Kenny Pickett a different look and potential positional advantage.
You can listen to the whole podcast episode here:
