It’s just the first day. They’re not in pads. A lot can happen ahead of the regular season. All those caveats are fair and good and true coming off the Pittsburgh Steelers debut day of 2024 training camp, a light session that felt more like OTAs and one that didn’t feature starting QB Russell Wilson, sidelined with calf tightness. But if there’s a takeaway, TE Pat Freiermuth is catching the eye of the quarterbacks who did work Thursday.
He was Justin Fields and Kyle Allen’s favorite target, coming up large with a couple of downfield catches while functioning as a security blanket underneath.
According to my Steelers daily camp report, Freiermuth was targeted three times during the team period, the 11 v 11 session of practice. Thursday’s practice, as the first one always is, was a shorter session that only had three full team periods instead of the five or even six the team will hold later in camp. Meaning, numbers and stats will fall on the lower end. Still, Freiermuth caught two of three targets for 23 yards, a 5-yard gain as Fields made a full-field read to him on his first pass attempt and an 18-yard gain open over the middle from Allen off play-action.
The only incompletion came as Fields looked for Freiermuth deep downfield on his second pass attempt of the day. Had this been a game, or had there been refs, SS DeShon Elliott would’ve easily been flagged for pass interference, more grabby than a prom date on Freiermuth’s body down the left sideline.
During a handful of 7v7 reps later in practice, Allen again found Pat Freiermuth on a corner/7-route, breaking away from backup S Nate Meadors and finishing with a strong catch over his head for a 15-plus yard pickup.
For a day that didn’t have many pass attempts and even less down the field, the team leaning on bootlegs and screen passes, what Freiermuth did is notable. It may not be terribly surprising, a sure-handed tight end and one of the veteran route runners on the team. In fact, of returning Steelers, there’s no one more veteran than him, tight end or wide receiver.
While the talk of the offseason has been the Steelers finding a true No. 2 outside receiver, Freiermuth is currently that guy. And he, like Mike Tomlin mentioned during his Wednesday press conference, moved around the formation. Pittsburgh used heavy personnel groupings, 12 and 13 looks with two or three tight ends, but the alignment wasn’t always packed in tight to the line of scrimmage. Tight ends, primarily Freiermuth, stood up and split out. He’s not going to be the actual No. 2 receiver capable of dusting corners but as things stand today, he is poised to only be behind George Pickens in targets and receptions.
Even the brand-new quarterback room had the same approach as Ben Roethlisberger. When in doubt, throw it to No. 88.
