Mike Tomlin beats around the bush when discussing why Pat Freiermuth has disappeared from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense
There’s more to the story as to what’s going on with Pat Freiermuth.
Coming into 2025, the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, at least in the pass game, was supposed to flow through DK Metcalf and Pat Freiermuth. So far, that has been true for the former player, but not for the latter.
Through four games, Muth has 7 catches for 65 yards. Between the way that the Steelers talked about him all offseason and Arthur Smith’s history with tight ends, you would have guessed Muth hit that line in Week 1.
Yet here we are, with one month of a sample size, and Jonnu Smith has taken more snaps, received more targets, caught more passes, and has more touchdowns. Why is that? Well, Mike Tomlin explained his reasoning, but it can easily be disproven.
Mike Tomlin says the lack of Pat Freiermuth production is because of 4-3 defenses
“We have a certain personality, particularly when we play 4-3 teams. I haven’t been bashful about that. That’s why we drafted Darnell Washington. You can’t play 4-3 teams with 250-pound tight ends. You can’t. There are weight classes in combat sport for a reason,” said Tomlin on Tuesday via the Steelers YouTube channel. “And so when the edge people are 300 pounds, you better have somebody out there that looks like that animal.”
“And so that was our intentions in Minnesota. And so certainly as we move into divisional play in the next couple of weeks and we’re playing two 4-3 teams, chances are you’re gonna see more of that. It is unfair at times to ask guys like Pat Freiermuth and Connor Heyward to block 4-3 ends. That’s not real realistic if you want to have a real good run game day.”
Here’s why that reasoning falls flat. Pat Freiermith has played a 4-3 defense every year since he was drafted, a minimum of four times. Those are divisional matchups against the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns. Do you know which team Pat Freiermuth had the best game of his career against back in 2023?
Oh that’s right, the Bengals, where he went 9 catches for 120 yards. A 4-3 team. So there is cleary a disconnect here. Perhaps the Steelers view Smith as the better overall option because of his ability in the run game and the fact that Freiermuth, who is supposed to be a pass-catching TE, actually has a lower catch percentage than Smith.
Simply put, drops have been an issue for Muth.
And I get it. Mike Tomlin can’t come out and say that Smith is our TE No.1 now. But the numbers, the reps, the film, it all points to the fact that Smith has taken over that role, or at least through the first quarter of the season.
Which is odd considering all of the rhetoric about Muth, his second-round draft capital, and the contract extension he signed just last offseason.
Pittsburgh Steelers News
Mike Tomlin confirms suspicion surrounding Roman Wilson’s role on the Steelers’ offense going forward
Mike Tomlin explained what to expect from Roman Wilson going forward.
