Pat Freiermuth Career Contextualization
While most of the fantasy football community focused on Kyle Pitts in 2021, tight end Pat Freiermuth quietly posted a solid rookie season. The second-round pick out of Penn State caught 60 of his 79 targets for 497 yards and seven touchdowns and became a quality weapon in Pittsburgh’s passing game.
Freiermuth’s campaign was good enough to finish as the TE13 in half-PPR. Considering how difficult it can be for rookie tight ends to acclimate to the NFL, Freiermuth’s performance should be viewed as highly encouraging.
Freiermuth primarily operated as a short-field option in the middle of the field for retired quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, as evidenced by his average depth of target of just 5.3 yards. He was a quality safety valve and dropped just two targets all season.
The question is whether Freiermuth can build off his rookie season and take the next step in 2022.
Pat Freiermuth Career Contextualization
While most of the fantasy football community focused on Kyle Pitts in 2021, tight end Pat Freiermuth quietly posted a solid rookie season. The second-round pick out of Penn State caught 60 of his 79 targets for 497 yards and seven touchdowns and became a quality weapon in Pittsburgh’s passing game.
Freiermuth’s campaign was good enough to finish as the TE13 in half-PPR. Considering how difficult it can be for rookie tight ends to acclimate to the NFL, Freiermuth’s performance should be viewed as highly encouraging.
Freiermuth primarily operated as a short-field option in the middle of the field for retired quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, as evidenced by his average depth of target of just 5.3 yards. He was a quality safety valve and dropped just two targets all season.
The question is whether Freiermuth can build off his rookie season and take the next step in 2022.
Current Situation
Freiermuth will be working with a new quarterback in his second season, as Roethlisberger has called it a career. A limited Roethlisberger relied heavily on dump-offs to Freiermuth and Najee Harris. And while the Steelers will have a more spry player under center in 2022, I’ll be curious to see how Freiermuth’s targets change without Big Ben checking it down to him.
Pittsburgh could have an intriguing quarterback competition on its hands, as free-agent signee Mitch Trubisky will likely go up against 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett in training camp. But, of course, the unimpressive Mason Rudolph can’t be forgotten about either.
Trubisky will likely enter the summer as the presumptive starter, and his history with throwing to tight ends is a bit checkered. In 2018, Trubisky’s Pro Bowl season in Chicago, Trey Burton caught 54 passes for 569 yards and six touchdowns. However, Trubisky rarely utilized the tight end in 2019 after Burton suffered a season-ending injury. Instead, Trubisky threw to tight ends Jimmy Graham and Cole Kmet more often in 2020 but only played in 10 games during his final year with the Bears.
Pickett is the wild card. During his tremendous final season at Pitt, Pickett utilized his tight ends a decent amount. Pitt’s tight end duo featuring Lucas Krull and Gavin Bartholomew caught 66 passes for 777 yards and 10 touchdowns combined.
For Freiermuth to take a big step in year two, he’ll also need to be utilized downfield more often. Being a safety valve is fine. And heaven knows we’ll take any semblance of steady production from tight ends in fantasy football. But for Freiermuth to crack into the top eight at the position, he’ll need more downfield shots to make up for any variance in red zone usage.
While Trubisky and Pickett may not push the ball downfield a ton, Freiermuth’s ability will keep him viable after the catch. Freiermuth averaged 4.1 yards after catch per reception as a rookie and averaged 4.2 yards before catch per reception.
General Prediction for 2022 and Rest of Career
Pat Freiermuth should be a solid tight end starting option for years to come. He’s got reliable hands and can be a handful once he’s got the ball. Of course, his usage and quarterback play will determine whether he can emerge as an elite starter at an insanely thin position. But there’s no reason to believe Freiermuth can’t top his rookie season. He could be the primary weapon between the hashes with JuJu Smith-Schuster now in Kansas City.
Freiermuth is a hold or soft buy entering the 2022 season. There’s a lot to like about him. I’m just not sure how much there is to love yet.
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