The Steelers made a small roster move yesterday, signing Donald Parham to a contract. The veteran tight end quietly spent last season on the Broncos practice squad; he's best known for his time with the Chargers. But you can bet Arthur Smith will get him some reps.
Parham averaged just 17 receptions in his four seasons with the Chargers, but 11 of those catches (and more than a tenth of his targets) went for touchdowns. That's catnip for Steelers OC Smith, who never met a tight end he doesn't want to get a souvenir touchdown ball. It was the case in Smith's coaching tenures in Tennessee and Atlanta, and it showed up again in Pittsburgh. Much to the chagrin of those with Pat Freiermuth on their fantasy teams.
Freiermuth did catch 7 touchdowns last year, benefitting from Smith's tendency to feature the position in the red zone. But it could have been even better, if Smith didn't like to use so many other targets at the position. While a league-leading 48 percent of Pittsburgh's touchdown passes went to tight ends, the Steelers were the only team that threw scores to four different players at the position. With Parham now under contract, maybe they'll make it five in 2025.
Table shows percent of receptions, yards and touchdowns by tight ends for each NFL team last year, sorted by percent of team touchdowns from the position. Last column shows the number of different players at the position to catch touchdowns in 2024. Only seven teams threw touchdowns to more than 2 different tight ends last year.
| TEAM TIGHT END PRODUCTION, 2024 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | No | Yards | TD | %Rec | %Yds | %TD | TEs wTDs |
| Pittsburgh | 96 | 933 | 10 | 30% | 26% | 48% | 4 |
| Baltimore | 106 | 1281 | 18 | 33% | 31% | 44% | 3 |
| Cleveland | 111 | 953 | 8 | 28% | 25% | 42% | 3 |
| Seattle | 89 | 1203 | 9 | 26% | 27% | 39% | 2 |
| New England | 108 | 1169 | 8 | 32% | 31% | 38% | 2 |
| Miami | 112 | 1053 | 8 | 27% | 26% | 36% | 1 |
| Kansas City | 144 | 1323 | 8 | 36% | 33% | 31% | 2 |
| New Orleans | 113 | 1170 | 5 | 33% | 35% | 28% | 2 |
| Washington | 79 | 766 | 8 | 22% | 19% | 28% | 2 |
| Tennessee | 98 | 868 | 6 | 29% | 24% | 27% | 3 |
| Las Vegas | 143 | 1443 | 5 | 35% | 35% | 26% | 1 |
| Green Bay | 62 | 796 | 7 | 20% | 20% | 25% | 1 |
| San Francisco | 86 | 810 | 5 | 21% | 18% | 24% | 2 |
| Detroit | 74 | 848 | 9 | 19% | 18% | 23% | 2 |
| Chicago | 56 | 512 | 4 | 16% | 14% | 20% | 1 |
| Arizona | 137 | 1355 | 4 | 37% | 35% | 19% | 2 |
| Atlanta | 55 | 653 | 4 | 15% | 15% | 19% | 1 |
| Denver | 51 | 483 | 5 | 13% | 13% | 17% | 2 |
| Philadelphia | 69 | 811 | 4 | 23% | 23% | 17% | 3 |
| NY Jets | 74 | 601 | 5 | 19% | 15% | 16% | 2 |
| Jacksonville | 102 | 857 | 3 | 30% | 23% | 16% | 2 |
| Houston | 70 | 672 | 3 | 20% | 17% | 15% | 2 |
| Tampa Bay | 75 | 803 | 6 | 18% | 18% | 15% | 2 |
| Minnesota | 82 | 855 | 5 | 23% | 20% | 14% | 2 |
| Carolina | 60 | 595 | 3 | 18% | 17% | 14% | 2 |
| LA Rams | 51 | 459 | 3 | 14% | 11% | 14% | 2 |
| Buffalo | 72 | 800 | 4 | 22% | 20% | 13% | 3 |
| NY Giants | 46 | 486 | 2 | 13% | 14% | 13% | 2 |
| Indianapolis | 39 | 467 | 2 | 13% | 13% | 10% | 2 |
| Cincinnati | 129 | 1114 | 4 | 28% | 23% | 9% | 3 |
| LA Chargers | 83 | 810 | 2 | 25% | 21% | 9% | 1 |
| Dallas | 95 | 823 | 1 | 24% | 20% | 4% | 1 |
In fairness, Freiermuth caught a career-high 65 passes, and his 7 touchdowns ties a career high. He finished last year as the No. 9 fantasy tight end (PPR). Seems like he might be a top-10 player at the position on next year's board.
But it's hard not to feel like he could be even better, were it not for Smith's fondness for guys like MyCole Pruitt, Connor Heyward, Darnell Washington and now Parham. Add in the potential of the Steelers breaking in a new quarterback of some kind, and I'll probably be a little wary of Freiermuth. I can't argue too much with the team results from the position under Smith, but it can definitely be argued whether he's truly helping the starter, or holding him back from even better numbers.
--Andy Richardson