Pat Freiermuth is nearly ready to join Kittle, Kelce in top tier for TEs

Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth is one of the youngest and most promising receivers in the league, and he could soon join the big boy club of tight ends.

Most would agree that tight ends, Travis Kelce, George Kittle, and Mark Andrews, belong in a league of their own, but Pittsburgh Steelers’ Pat Freiermuth is well on his way to joining the elite club.

In what could be seen as a rebuilding season for the Steelers in 2022, Freiermuth finished third in receiving yardage (732) and second in total receptions (63), enjoying a sizeable Year 2 jump and carving out his own role in the Steelers’ passing attack.

Freiermuth is also one of eight tight ends in NFL history to turn 70-plus catches into first downs over his first two seasons in the league, which just goes to show how important Freiermuth was in quarterback Kenny Pickett’s development and for the future of the Steelers franchise.

The 2021 second-rounder is by no means a top-five tight end right now, as he’d have to see much more consistent quarterback play from Pickett and even then, other veterans have him beat in pass-catching skills and contested catch abilities.

Steelers’ Pat Freiermuth is growing into one of the most reliable TEs in the NFL

Whereas Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce hasn’t recorded a single season in the league with fewer than 800 yards, Freiermuth has yet to eclipse that mark, and he simply can’t measure up to the dominant success that Kelce enjoyed in the last decade.

Travis Kelce is the best. No one can deny that fact. Yet Freiermuth’s slow but steady growth over the past few years mimics that of several other elite tight ends including Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, Jeremy Shockey, and more.

With Diontae Johnson developing a sudden allergy to the end zone this past season, and with George Pickens being leaned on more often for long-yardage situations, Freiermuth’s ability to dominate the middle of the field and convert so many first downs makes him a critical piece of Pittsburgh’s receiving corps.

No one can string together 1,000-yard seasons like Kelce, but Freiermuth’s career could more likely take the shape of that of San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle, who broke out for consecutive 1,000-yard seasons before settling down and averaging a little fewer than 800 yards a season for the past three years.

More so than any other Steelers youngster, Freiermuth will be one of the most fun names to watch in the Kenny Pickett era, that is, if there is a Pickett era to begin with.