Pat Freiermuth Fantasy Overview

2025: Arthur Smith, TE Crowd Conspired Against Production

We don’t know how Freiermuth feels about Arthur Smith on a personal level, but his professional outlook should benefit from the former OC getting booted.

Freiermuth caught a career-low 2.4 passes per game last season, despite a QB upgrade from Justin Fields-Russell Wilson to Aaron Rodgers. The main problem: Those Steelers crowded their TE depth chart and played three of them a lot.

Darnell Washington, Jonnu Smith, and Freiermuth all played more offensive snaps than No. 2 WR Calvin Austin III, with Freiermuth third among that group. He led the trio in pass routes but played a career-low 50.6% of the snaps, well down from four straight years at 62.0% or higher to open his career.

Even Freiermuth’s 353 regular-season pass routes were the second-lowest tally of his career, ahead of only his 12-game 2023.

He exceeded 3 catches in a game just twice all season and cracked the top-12 PPR tight ends three times. Freiermuth finished 20th or lower 12 times before posting TE16 and TE17 finishes in the final two regular-season weeks.

His TE31 finish in PPR points per game followed these rankings from previous seasons:

• 2021: TE17
• 2022: TE10
• 2023: TE32
• 2024: TE13

That TE32 ranking predated Arthur Smith’s arrival but came with a mid-season IR stint for a hamstring injury and doomed OC Matt Canada (fired mid-season).

2026: How Much Better Can Things Get?

Pittsburgh appears ready to let Jonnu Smith walk after he matched Freiermuth’s 54 targets last year, tying for fourth on the team. Two of the three players ahead of them in targets also left town: Kenneth Gainwell to the Bucs and Calvin Austin III to the Giants.

The Steelers, of course, also acquired WR Michael Pittman Jr., filled Gainwell’s vacancy with Rico Dowdle, and drafted WR Germie Bernard in Round 2.

Pittsburgh also extended TE Darnell Washington for four years at $10.5 million per season, ahead of the final year on his rookie deal. Washington has been more blocker than receiver through his first three campaigns but has also increased his receptions each year.

Dallas Fed Tight Ends. Will Pittsburgh?

Washington’s extension came after Pittsburgh replaced Mike Tomlin’s staff with Mike McCarthy’s. McCarthy said the first year with a new team is about learning his players, but Washington’s contract hardly suggests a smaller Year 4 role.

That doesn’t necessarily hurt Freiermuth, who has never played more than 68.7% of Pittsburgh’s offensive snaps since he arrived. But we’ll have to see exactly how all the pieces fit together.

McCarthy’s offenses have at least leaned pass across his 18 years as a head coach, with a median ranking of 9.5 in pass attempts. His final four seasons in Dallas also all found a TE among the team’s top 3 in targets: Jake Ferguson in 2024 and 2023; Dalton Schultz the two seasons before that.

Expected Points Say Stay Cautious

This year’s Steelers sport upward mobility in both total play volume and passing volume after finishing 17th in attempts last year and 28th in total plays. Four of McCarthy’s five Dallas offenses ranked among the top 4 in offensive pace.

If play volume and passing volume increase, along with Freiermuth's biggest direct challenge for targets being gone, he could climb back toward -- or even into -- the position's top 15 in PPR scoring.

Washington’s role will be worth watching for any potential change. But Freiermuth’s significant edge in salary and experience over Bernard should support a fair amount of two-TE sets (as opposed to three-WR formations).

Freiermuth faced less competition at WR when he finished TE13 in PPR points per game in 2024 -- including George Pickens missing three games -- but that also came in an offense that ranked just 29th in pass attempts.

Start your expectations much lower, though. Freiermuth has ranked higher than TE19 in expected PPR points per game just once through five seasons. Since Washington arrived, he has ranked just 29th, 21st, and tied for 36th (with Jonnu Smith) in that category.