TE Pat Freiermuth saw just 47 targets for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023 after setting team records at his position. Injuries played a role in his opportunities, certainly, ultimately missing five games. But to finish with just 32 receptions for 308 yards struck many as a vast underutilization of his talents. You can include the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo in that camp, and he is optimistic about the future.
“I want to believe in Pat Freiermuth. I go back to his rookie season with Ben Roethlisberger and how much of a red-zone weapon he was. Seven touchdowns, most of those coming in the red zone”, he said of Freiermuth on 93.7 The Fan yesterday. “Last season was an absolute joke. There were not targets. The first game without Matt Canada, Mike Sullivan and Eddie Faulkner draw it up, Pat Freiermuth has over 100 yards in that game”.
Through the first five games of the season, Freiermuth only caught nine passes on 14 targets for 60 yards. Two of those receptions resulted in touchdowns, but under three targets per game is abysmal. You can offer the caveat that he was dealing with an injury for some of that time, but that’s hard to reconcile with the rest of his season.
The first game after the Steelers fired Canada, they targeted Pat Freiermuth 11 games. He caught nine passes for a career-high 120 yards, although it wasn’t exactly the turning point many hoped for. Including the postseason, though, he did catch another 19 passes for 204 yards in seven games.
“It was like, ‘Wow, this guy can actually help your offense!’”, Fittipaldo said of Freiermuth’s 120-yard game. “With an offensive coordinator who knows what he’s doing, I think you’ll see that production go up. It’s unfortunate for Pat [that] he’s got to negotiate a contract now before he can really take that next step and put up those big numbers. I do think the Steelers believe in him enough that he will get a nice contract here before the season”.
Freiermuth is in the final season of his rookie contract, unfortunately coming off a down year. He is thus negotiating from a weakened position, but if the Steelers believe in him, they will pay for what they believe he will do. Many complain when teams seemingly pay players for past performance, but this is a case of the latter. It would be unfair to offer Freiermuth a contract reflective of the limitations forced upon him, particularly last year.
Over his first two seasons, Freiermuth caught 123 passes for 1,229 yards and 9 touchdowns. He showed in 2022 that he can offer some explosive-play potential if used effectively, and he has worked on that. Earlier this offseason, he revealed he is working with a speed and movement coach, and his coaches have noticed.
