4 Steelers with notable snap counts in loss vs Raiders

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a few key injuries in their loss to the Raiders. Here are four players with notable snap counts in Week 2. 

Predicting which players will make the final roster is one thing; predicting how many snaps each player will earn is something else entirely. While I had a fairly good idea of how things would play out in the pecking order at each position, there are always a few surprises.

Injuries certainly come into play, and Pittsburgh has had their fair share to begin the year. The Steelers fell flat against the Raiders in Week 2, but here are four notable snap counts that should have us intrigued:

Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth

It didn’t take long for Pat Freiermuth to become the TE1 in Pittsburgh. In his very first game against the Buffalo Bills, the rookie tight end earned 29 offensive snaps – two more than veteran Eric Ebron. However, this week he started to pull away with the starting job – earning 33 snaps to Ebron’s 24.

This is a ratio that may prove to only increase as the season marches on. Not only has Feiermuth been a significantly better run blocker from the gate than Ebron, but he’s also been much more reliable as a receiver – catching 5 passes on 5 targets for 60 yards. Ebron, meanwhile, has caught just 1 of 4 targets for a mere 19 yards.

With the need for a solid safety valve across the middle of the field, Freiermuth should become an even bigger staple to the Steelers offense by the end of his rookie season. If he keeps playing the way he has been, it will be hard to keep him off the field.