It could be a huge season for Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth under offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
It’s well-documented how much Smith likes to utilize the tight ends in the passing game, and with Freiermuth’s strongest skill set being his receiving ability, things align quite well between player, coach and opportunity. That could lead to a huge fourth season in the NFL for the Penn State product.
CBS Sports’ Jordan Dajani sees it that way, choosing Freiermuth end as his biggest “under the radar” player for the Steelers ahead of the 2024 season.
“Pat Freiermuth caught seven touchdowns in his rookie season, crossed 700 yards receiving the next year, but then came 2023. He missed five games due to a hamstring injury and caught 32 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns — all career-low numbers,” Dajani writes, according to CBSSports.com. “Freiermuth has said that Arthur Smith’s new offense is ‘very exciting’ for tight ends, and he may be onto something. Under Smith, Kyle Pitts became just the second rookie tight end in NFL history to cross 1,000 receiving yards, and the first rookie tight end to make the Pro Bowl in almost two decades.
“Smith also found success using Atlanta’s TE2 in Jonnu Smith, who caught 50 passes for a career-high 582 yards and three touchdowns last season. Pitts and Smith both finished inside the top 15 in receiving yards among tight ends in 2023, and top 18 in targets. No other NFL team had two tight ends rank that high in either statistical category.”
The 2023 season was a disaster for Freiermuth. Injuries derailed his season early on as the former second-round pick suffered a hamstring injury in Week 4 at Houston, tried to play in Week 5 against Baltimore and aggravated it further, causing him to land on Injured Reserve and miss another four games.
Once he returned, Freiermuth continued to not have much of an impact, but then he had a career day in Week 12 against the Cincinnati Bengals on the road, which happened to be just a few days after former offensive coordinator Matt Canada was fired. That day, Freiermuth hauled in nine passes for 120 yards, taking advantage of the middle of the field.
He quieted down the rest of the season but finished strong with five receptions for 79 yards in the Wild Card Round loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Now, entering 2024, he has a real opportunity in front of him with Smith calling the shots offensively.
Smith loves to utilize the tight ends, and it already looks like Freiermuth will be a “significant playmaker” in the Steelers’ offense, according to The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly.
That’s good news for not only Freiermuth, but the Steelers. They need that tight end to take attention away from wide receivers like George Pickens on the outside. Smith tries to do that with his tight ends in the middle of the field.
Based on the TE usage study from Jeremy Pike for Steelers Depot, TEs saw a target share of between 26% and 34% in Atlanta under Smith. Last season alone, tight ends Kyle Pitts and Jonnu Smith both had 50-plus receptions and more 580 yards, finding the end zone three times each as well.
Opportunity will be there for Freiermuth to not only produce at a high level but reassert himself back into the discussion of top 8 to 10 tight ends in football.
If he can do that, he’ll not only give a big boost to the Steelers’ offense, he’ll also fully establish himself as a true leader on that side of the football for a group that is relatively young, alleviating some potential concerns regarding a contract extension that is likely coming this summer as well.
