Is Pat Freiermuth the player the Steelers have been missing?

The Steelers selected Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth in the second round of the NFL Draft. Is he the player the team has been missing?

Since Heath Miller’s retirement in 2015, the Steelers have tried and failed to fill his old role with late-round draft picks and discount-free agents. That philosophy obviously wasn’t working. However, there were a few times when we thought they may have actually found their man.

In 2016, the Steelers signed Ladarius Green after his rookie contract with the Chargers had expired. The 6’6” tight end was a terrific vertical threat who had a chance to be special in the passing game. Unfortunately, recurring concussions shortened his career and he played just six games in Pittsburgh before hanging up his cleats at the age of 26.

Vance McDonald proved to be a quality stopgap tight end for this team when he was acquired via trade with the 49ers in 2017. Sadly, injuries were also the story of his career as he never played a 16-game season once in his 8-year career. McDonald had a terrific season in 2018 at the age of 28, but it was all downhill from there and he elected to retire this offseason.

While there have been a couple of quality options along the way, these tight ends fizzled out very quickly, and Steelers fans have been left wanting a long-term option at the position. On Friday night, Pittsburgh may have found one.

Pat Freiermuth is a player that the team and fans alike have had their eye on since early in the NFL Draft process. Like the great Heath Miller, Freiermuth is never the fastest player on the field but his big frame and plus physicality make him a quality do-it-all option at the tight end position.

Is Freiermuth the player the Steelers have been missing?

I’ve got to be completely honest here; I think the big-bodied, inline tight ends like Pat Freiermuth are kind of going by the wayside. In their place, a new breed of tight end has emerged: the H-back.

George Kittle is a prime example of this. Though he is a little undersized for the position, he has terrific athletic traits (4.52 speed) and his ability to block on the move is top-notch – making him the perfect addition to the offense. Tommy Tremble is a player I actually had rated slightly higher than Freiermuth this year because of these H-back qualities and superior athleticism. Though Tremble is smaller than Freiermuth at 6’3 3/8” and 241 pounds, the 20-year-old is a terrific blocker in space and has the athleticism to become a quality receiver in the NFL.

Freiermuth is more of the old-school breed of tight end. At 6’5” and 251 pounds, his body type is nearly identical to Heath Miller’s listed size in the NFL (6’5”, 256 pounds). This certainly isn’t a bad thing, by any means. But will his average athletic traits make him just another guy in the NFL?

While I may not like the fact that Freiermuth isn’t a separator in the passing game or a very polished blocker at this point, he has the grit and physicality to do all of the dirty work inline and over the middle of the field, and the Steelers have been missing a reliable option in this department for years. As a second-round pick, Freiermuth could develop into a number one tight end for this team and prove his worth to be a quality starter.

It’s unfair to expect Pat Freiermuth to be the next Heath Miller for the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, I think it’s reasonable to assume that the big tight end will prove his worth as a mid-second round selection. He may not be the exact type of tight end I was hoping for, but maybe he is exactly what this team has been missing.