Steelers' young star mentions advanced role in 2022
PITTSBURGH – Pat Freiermuth was a wonderful revelation for the Steelers last year. The former Nittany Lion set a Steelers' rookie record for the most receptions (60) and receiving yards (497) in the first year with the team. He also tied for the most receiving touchdowns in a rookie season with seven. It's easy to […]
PITTSBURGH – Pat Freiermuth was a wonderful revelation for the Steelers last year.
The former Nittany Lion set a Steelers' rookie record for the most receptions (60) and receiving yards (497) in the first year with the team. He also tied for the most receiving touchdowns in a rookie season with seven.
It's easy to see why he became such a sensation in Pittsburgh, especially when considering his physical play on top of the impressive stats.
There's a really good chance that Freiermuth could've had an even better season in 2021. Per Pro Football Focus, Freiermuth was one of just seven tight ends league-wide to block on 38.5% or more of offensive snaps and simultaneously see at least 77 targets on the year. The other names included on the list were George Kittle, Noah Fant, Dalton Schultz, Cole Kmet, Tyler Conklin, and Tyler Higbee and the criteria was based on a minimum of 263 blocking snaps among all tight ends.
Meaning, Freiermuth was blocking a lot in 2021.
But, according to Freiermuth, 2022 should provide him those extra opportunities that he missed out on last year.
"We'll see, but I think that I'm going to move around a lot on the offensive formations and stuff like that," Freiermuth told reporters Wednesday. "So, I'm excited for that."
The second-year tight end also pinpointed his paltry mark of 8.3 yards per catch and noted how that needs to improve a lot, which should come with the territory of moving around more and not blocking as much.
"My yards per average was atrocious, in my opinion," said Freiermuth. "So, I think that, obviously, if I have 60 catches, that should be up more in the range of 800-900 [receiving] yards. So I definitely need to get that up higher and maybe we can push the ball down the field this year."
Pushing the ball down the field was certainly an issue for the Steelers last year, but that primarily fell on the shoulders of Ben Roethlisberger, who was clearly in decline. The numbers reflect the fact that Freiermuth wasn't used as a field-stretcher: PFF has his average depth of target at 5.9 yards per target, which is tied for the seventh-lowest mark among tight ends with at least 42 targets in 2021.
No matter what, the Steelers offense is going to see some big changes in 2021 and from what it sounds like, Freiermuth is going to benefit from it.
Featured image via Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
