Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth might not make a play that stands out in your mind this entire season, but he doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being a stable piece of the fantasy football puzzle. You draft star-quality players with the intent for them to drive your success, while the late pieces help you tread water.
That said, Jonnu Smith was brought in via trade with the Miami Dolphins in late June, presumably facilitated by Rodgers.
Should you forget how to spell Freiermuth’s last name and not concern yourself with him entering 2025?
Should You Draft Pat Freiermuth in Fantasy?
There is nothing flashy about Patty Football, but the official addition of Rodgers to this roster jumped him up into the “chasing a touchdown” tier at the position, and that’s enough to get him drafted late to see how this connection looks.
#Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth Efficiency Stats In 2024 (per @rotounderworld):
🟡Yards Per Target – 8.4 (9th)
⚫️True Catch Rate – 95.6% (10th)
🟡Contested Catch Rate – 90.0% (1st)
⚫️QB Rating Per Target – 126.1 (6th)
🟡Dominator Rating – 25.7% (4th) pic.twitter.com/rEUX5X0jGf— Steelers Black and Gold Nation – Off-season (@B_GNation1) June 15, 2025
During his career, the Steelers rank 19th in completions per game, 22nd in passer rating, 28th in yards per attempt, and 29th in red zone efficiency. They haven’t been good on the offensive side of the ball, and no matter what you think about Rodgers at this stage in his career, there’s at least a path to them being average, something that would be a pretty reasonable improvement over the past four seasons.
All of that is true, yet Freiermuth is one of four tight ends with 60+ catches in three of the past four seasons, a list composed of Travis Kelce, George Kittle, and T.J. Hockenson.
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For his career, Freiermuth has scored on one-third of his red-zone targets. He’s not the most physically gifted player on the field, and that has resulted in him honing some box-out techniques that could shine with Rodgers under center. Over his last two seasons, the future HOF quarterback has posted a 21.6% touchdown rate when the ball gets inside the 25-yard line, a percentage that isn’t wildly different from his career number prior (23.8%).
Building on that, only nine quarterbacks with at least 20 games played since 2022 have both a higher completion percentage and more touchdowns per game at the TE position than Rodgers. That’s not bad when you consider the players he had access to over that stretch.
That’s the Freiermuth upsell. Of course, none of it matters if he’s not on the field in valuable spots, and that currently projects to be the case with Smith sitting atop this depth chart.
Could the Steelers mask their limited receiver depth with two-TE formations as a standard?
It’s possible.
Could Smith, in his age-30 season, wear down as he prepares for his fourth team in as many seasons?
It’s possible.
I wouldn’t call either one of those things likely, and that is why you don’t have to go anywhere near this deep at the position during your draft, but I’m not shutting off the lights on Freiermuth. Tight end handcuffs don’t exist, but if Smith were to go down, given the lack of other options for Rodgers to feed, I’d be putting a low-big on Freiermuth and hoping to solve my streaming strategy.
Dan Fornek’s Pat Freiermuth Fantasy Projection
Pat Freiermuth has been a consistent all-around tight end since being drafted by the Steelers in 2021, but hasn’t developed into a consistent fantasy tight end. In four seasons in the NFL, Freiermuth has had three seasons with between 9.0 and 10.0 fantasy points per game. He has finished as the TE13 or better in two of the last three seasons.
2025 was looking like it could be a solid step forward for Freiermuth. The Steelers seemingly upgraded the quarterback position with Aaron Rodgers. The team also traded for DK Metcalf, but subsequently traded George Pickens away. Freiermuth was lining up to be the secondary pass catcher in the offense. Then the Steelers traded for Jonnu Smith, a tight end who has experience with Arthur Smith’s system from their time together in Atlanta.
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Now, Freiermuth’s fantasy outlook becomes far murkier in 2025. On one hand, he is coming off the most efficient season of his career (78 targets, 65 receptions, 653 receiving yards, and seven touchdowns) in an offense that weaponizes tight ends in the passing game. On the other hand, Smith has shown the ability to earn a consistent target share and is one of the most versatile players in the NFL.
Pittsburgh will likely utilize two tight end sets throughout the season, so Freiermuth won’t necessarily lose snaps to Smith. However, having a second tight end who can earn targets, especially in the red zone, caps Freiermuth’s upside. It will be difficult to trust him as a reliable fantasy option until we see what the Steelers’ offense looks like with Rodgers under center.
