There are times that Pat Freiermuth looks like a big-time tight end. I think the talent level is just fine. But I am losing confidence that the Steelers will ever truly get him going.
We’ve seen it at times. He had that game against Cincinnati last year where he caught 9 passes for 120 yards. Four times the previous season, he had games with 7-8 catches. He can do it.
But there have been more misses than hits. And the changes in Pittsburgh don’t have me optimistic that Freiermuth is on the upswing.
They’ve brought in Arthur Smith to serve as their coordinator. He tends to prefer to use multiple tight ends, rather than feeding primarily one guy. All five of Smith’s offenses (in Tennessee and Atlanta) finished with multiple tight ends catching touchdowns. The Falcons used a No. 4 overall pick on a tight end, Kyle Pitts, but Smith never had much interest in using him (Jonnu Smith saw the ball about as much as Pitts for most of last year).
This current Steelers roster has plenty of other tight ends, including Darnell Washington, Connor Heyward and MyCole Pruitt. Pruitt has caught at least one touchdown for Smith five years in a row.
And then there’s Russell Wilson. He hasn’t tended to be a tight end friendly quarterback, perhaps because his height limitations make it harder for him to work the middle of the field. Whatever the reason, Wilson in 12 years has had only two tight ends finish higher than 20th at the position (using PPR scoring).
I expect Freiermuth will be a modest or lesser second tight end on my board (probably not in my top 20).
| RUSSELL WILSON'S TIGHT ENDS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2016 | Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 65 | 923 | 14.2 | 6 | 193.3 | 4 |
| 2017 | Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 57 | 520 | 9.1 | 10 | 171.0 | 7 |
| 2021 | Gerald Everett, Sea. | 48 | 478 | 10.0 | 4 | 121.8 | 20 |
| 2015 | Jimmy Graham, Sea. | 48 | 605 | 12.6 | 2 | 120.5 | 20 |
| 2019 | Jacob Hollister, Sea. | 41 | 349 | 8.5 | 3 | 93.9 | 23 |
| 2013 | Zach Miller, Sea. | 33 | 387 | 11.7 | 5 | 101.7 | 25 |
| 2014 | Luke Willson, Sea. | 22 | 362 | 16.5 | 3 | 76.2 | 28 |
| 2012 | Zach Miller, Sea. | 38 | 396 | 10.4 | 3 | 95.6 | 30 |
| 2018 | Nick Vannett, Sea. | 29 | 269 | 9.3 | 3 | 73.9 | 30 |
| 2019 | Will Dissly, Sea. | 23 | 262 | 11.4 | 4 | 73.9 | 37 |
| 2012 | Anthony McCoy, Sea. | 18 | 291 | 16.2 | 3 | 65.1 | 39 |
| 2023 | Adam Trautman, Den. | 22 | 204 | 9.3 | 3 | 60.4 | 39 |
| 2020 | Jacob Hollister, Sea. | 25 | 209 | 8.4 | 3 | 65.9 | 40 |
| 2017 | Luke Willson, Sea. | 15 | 153 | 10.2 | 4 | 54.3 | 41 |
| 2020 | Will Dissly, Sea. | 24 | 251 | 10.5 | 2 | 61.1 | 43 |
| 2020 | Greg Olsen, Sea. | 24 | 239 | 10.0 | 1 | 53.9 | 46 |
| 2018 | Ed Dickson, Sea. | 12 | 143 | 11.9 | 3 | 45.2 | 46 |
| 2015 | Luke Willson, Sea. | 17 | 213 | 12.5 | 1 | 44.3 | 46 |
| 2013 | Luke Willson, Sea. | 20 | 272 | 13.6 | 1 | 53.2 | 48 |
| 2016 | Luke Willson, Sea. | 15 | 129 | 8.6 | 2 | 39.9 | 49 |
| 2014 | Cooper Helfet, Sea. | 12 | 185 | 15.4 | 2 | 42.5 | 50 |
| 2021 | Will Dissly, Sea. | 21 | 231 | 11.0 | 1 | 50.1 | 51 |
| 2018 | Will Dissly, Sea. | 8 | 156 | 19.5 | 2 | 35.6 | 58 |
| 2022 | Eric Saubert, Den. | 15 | 148 | 9.9 | 1 | 35.8 | 60 |
| 2014 | Tony Moeaki, Sea. | 8 | 134 | 16.8 | 1 | 27.4 | 60 |
| 2017 | Nick Vannett, Sea. | 12 | 124 | 10.3 | 1 | 30.4 | 61 |
| 2015 | Cooper Helfet, Sea. | 13 | 130 | 10.0 | 0 | 26.0 | 64 |
| 2022 | Eric Tomlinson, Den. | 9 | 79 | 8.8 | 2 | 28.9 | 67 |
| 2022 | Albert Okwuegbunam, Den. | 10 | 95 | 9.5 | 1 | 25.5 | 71 |
| 2023 | Lucas Krull, Den. | 8 | 95 | 11.9 | 1 | 23.5 | 72 |
| 2013 | Kellen Davis, Sea. | 3 | 32 | 10.7 | 1 | 12.2 | 75 |
| 2014 | Zach Miller, Sea. | 6 | 76 | 12.7 | 0 | 13.6 | 78 |
| 2019 | Luke Willson, Sea. | 8 | 79 | 9.9 | 0 | 15.9 | 82 |
| 2022 | Andrew Beck, Den. | 5 | 69 | 13.8 | 0 | 11.9 | 89 |
| 2021 | Colby Parkinson, Sea. | 5 | 33 | 6.6 | 0 | 8.3 | 91 |
| 2016 | Nick Vannett, Sea. | 3 | 32 | 10.7 | 0 | 6.2 | 94 |
| 2016 | Brandon Williams, Sea. | 2 | 36 | 18.0 | 0 | 5.6 | 95 |
| 2023 | Nate Adkins, Den. | 4 | 22 | 5.5 | 0 | 6.2 | 96 |
| 2023 | Greg Dulcich, Den. | 3 | 25 | 8.3 | 0 | 5.5 | 97 |
| 2020 | Colby Parkinson, Sea. | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 0 | 3.6 | 102 |
| 2023 | Chris Manhertz, Den. | 2 | 16 | 8.0 | 0 | 3.6 | 102 |
| 2018 | Tyrone Swoopes, Sea. | 1 | 23 | 23.0 | 0 | 3.3 | 111 |
| 2019 | Tyrone Swoopes, Sea. | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 1.5 | 112 |
—Ian Allan