Pittsburgh Steelers OC Arthur Smith loves him some tight ends—in case five on the 53-man roster didn’t make that point. The Steelers rank eighth in 12 personnel usage, for example, and first in 13 and 14 personnel. The group has played a pivotal role in getting the running game going this year, and the Steelers are continuing to explore ways to use them as the season goes on.
“It was anticipated with Arthur [Smith] coming in, some of the things he’s done with Tennessee and with Atlanta”, Steelers TE coach Alfredo Roberts said of their increased usage of tight ends this year. “He really put a lot of stress on these guys as far as learning a lot of different positions.
“And the growth has been phenomenal, just watching. You’ve got MyCole Pruitt, and he’s been kind of like our cheat sheet on some things with Arthur trying to get done. Darnell [Washington]’s benefited in a big way. Connor [Heyward]’s benefited, playing a lot more last week. And Pat [Freiermuth] has been able to do some nice things for us. I’m just excited to see how we continue to grow in that phase”.
If you were to evaluate the Steelers’ tight end group by the most obvious metric, you might not be impressed. Most people would likely look at Pat Freiermuth’s receiving numbers and wonder what the big deal is. On the season, he has 26 catches for 264 yards and two touchdowns.
But the Steelers ask their tight ends to chip in on offense in every aspect, Freiermuth included. He helped provide some key pass protection on the Steelers’ lone offensive touchdown last Monday, for example.
Freiermuth is actually playing a career-high snap rate, approaching 75 percent. Darnell Washington is on the field for over half the snaps as well, with Connor Heyward just over 20 percent. Despite missing time, MyCole Pruitt has also logged 113 snaps, over 20 percent of his games played.
The Steelers’ commitment to the position also goes hand-in-hand with their commitment to the run. They run the ball the second-most in the league with the eighth-most yards. And they are on an upward trajectory in that area, Najee Harris rushing for over 100 yards in three straight games. He never accomplished that before in his career, so clearly, Arthur Smith’s contributions are making a difference.
And even though they rank 31st in pass attempts, the Steelers are still finding their tight ends there. Freiermuth’s numbers are not impressive in a vacuum, but they rank first or second on the team. Even Washington has 11 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown. Heyward has just four catches but with one touchdown. Even Pruitt has two catches so far.
