Buy or Sell: Jonnu Smith will see more targets for the Steelers than Pat Freiermuth.
Explanation: Even with a strong season, Pat Freiermuth did not put up Jonnu Smith’s numbers last year as a receiver. After a 653-yard, 7-touchdown season, Freiermuth seems headed for a bigger role in the offense. But now the Steelers have Jonnu Smith, who made the Pro Bowl for the Dolphins in 2024. Last season, he produced 884 receiving yards with 8 touchdowns.
Buy:
You don’t trade for a Pro Bowl receiving tight end and then not feed him Pro Bowl-level work. The Steelers will be making good use of their tight ends this year, though, that’s for sure. Both produced high success rates when targets, but Jonnu Smith produced more than did Pat Freiermuth.
If the Steelers were fully satisfied with Freiermuth, would they have even traded for Smith? Sure, their skillsets are not a one-for-one match, but we’re talking about a lot of targets for tight ends. And we were already thinking that Darnell Washington could have a larger role in the passing game. So much for that, I suppose.
Reportedly, the Steelers see Jonnu Smith, effectively, as their slot receiver, and that means targets. That’s how the Dolphins used him last year, playing 254 of 627 snaps in the slot. He played another 148 snaps outside. The Steelers used Freiermuth in the slot, too, but not in the same way—or the same expectations. Smith is faster and more athletic, and they can do more things with him.
Sell:
The reason Jonnu Smith outproduced Pat Freiermuth last year is because the Steelers underutilized Freiermuth. They didn’t utilize him to the level he is capable of contributing—they made a mistake. Smith gained 231 more yards, but that’s because he saw 33 more targets.
Freiermuth averaged 8.37 yards per target for the Steelers last season, Smith 7.96 in Miami. If the Steelers targeted Freiermuth as much as the Dolphins targeted Smith, and he maintained the same level of per-target production, he would have produced 929 yards and another two or three touchdowns.
There will be a role for both Freiermuth and Smith in the Steelers’ offense, but Freiermuth will have the more traditional tight end role. And lest we forget, 2024 was more of an aberration in Smith’s career than the norm. In his first six seasons, he averaged 32 catches for 348 yards and three touchdowns per 17 games.
The Steelers are building toward the 2025 season, following yet another disappointing year. While they reached the playoffs, they once again lost decisively in the first round. They are facing questions, both publicly, and perhaps privately as well. Questions about The Standard, and what the Steelers stand for.
The rookie class of a year ago was successful, but they need to step up into staple starters in 2025. And they need everyone healthy to do it, not an insignificant consideration. They needed a strong influx of talent in both free agency and in the 2025 NFL draft yet again.
These sorts of uncertainties are what we will address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, we will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).
