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: The third-year tight end seemingly came out of nowhere with a career performance yesterday. He caught nine passes on the day on 11 targets for 120 yards, roughly tripling his yardage output on the year and playing a crucial role in the offense against the Cincinnati Bengals.
TE Pat Freiermuth may have bought himself a longer grace period with yesterday’s performance—one could easily call it well-earned. He was fantastic as a dynamic receiving threat over the middle of the field, exactly the sort of performance that had been envisioned for him.
Assigning blame for its failure to come to fruition is a difficult task, however. He’s never played under ideal circumstances, with limited quarterback play and an offensive scheme that continues to leave a lot to be desired.
But it was good enough to get the job done in Cincinnati, and that’s largely because Freiermuth was getting his job done. Time and time again QB Kenny Pickett found him and connected with him on some key play, whether it was an explosive play or a key third-down conversion.
Having recently returned from a lengthy hamstring injury, Freiermuth’s value had been questioned. Although he caught two touchdown passes early on in the season, he had just eight catches for 53 yards before yesterday. He was hardly being used. His effort was being questioned.
And it wasn’t undeserving, frankly, particularly concerning his blocking. But even that was better yesterday than it had been. He helped open a couple of running lanes here and there for RB Najee Harris, who recorded his first 100-yard rushing game of the season…and then lost it with a final run of minus-one yard.
This game has to be a stepping stone not just for Freiermuth but for the offense as a whole and the manner in which the Steelers deploy the tight end within their offense. They had been doing a rather poor job of exploiting what it can offer. How much will that change with former Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada now gone? How indicative of that would yesterday’s game be? Freiermuth’s not going to go for 100 yards on a weekly basis, but is this a sign of things to come?
