Pat

Freiermuth

Freiermuth started the year dreadfully quiet, failing to top 60 yards in a game until Week 13. The veteran tight end also hit five catches in a game once in the first dozen weeks. The Steelers then started losing games, forcing them to pass more. While it resulted in an ugly finish to the year for the team, Pittsburgh’s slump coincided with a late-season surge for Freiermuth. He caught 30 passes for 299 yards and four scores over his final six games. Freiermuth ended the year with a 65/653/7 receiving line. When the Steelers are forced to pass, Freiermuth becomes a high-volume tight end with top-notch fantasy potential. That, however, is not how the team wants to win, keeping Muth in the TE2 ranks heading into his fifth NFL season.

For the second straight week, Freiermuth led the Steelers in both targets, receptions and yards while also picking up the only passing touchdown from Russell Wilson. A good night ended on a dour note, however, as he dropped a pass on 4th and 12 to end the game and gave the Steelers their fourth-straight loss to end the regular season. Still, it’s nice to see Freiermuth so involved, and there’s no reason to think he won’t be in the Wild Card round, either.

Freiermuth was the leader in targets, receptions and receiving yards for the Steelers. Unfortunately, he lost a fumble that essentially put the game away with Pittsburgh trailing by two scores at the time. He was also the target of Russell Wilson’s interception in the end zone. Freiermuth is a “high-end” TE2 for Week 18 against the Bengals.

Freiermuth hauled in a nine-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson in the second quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Eagles. Freiermuth has now scored in three-straight games, but is fantasy production is largely being carried by his scores. He’ll be a risky bet in Week 16 against the Ravens, who held him to two catches for 14 yards in their first meeting.

He only saw three targets on the day, but Freiermuth made the most of his opportunities. Two of his three catches went for 20-plus yard gains, with his final catch resulting in a touchdown late in the third quarter. The targets haven’t been there for Freiermuth in most weeks, as he’s now seen four or fewer targets in eight of his last nine games. For this reason, he’ll be a boom-or-bust TE2 in Week 15 against the Eagles.

Friday additions to the injury report are about as bad as it gets. The simplest conclusion is that Pickens strained his hamstring in practice and should be considered highly questionable to play this week. Pat Freiermuth’s 11 targets over the last two weeks trail only Pickens’ 12, suggesting Freiermuth should operate in a featured pass-catching role this week. The Steelers’ WR room cannot be ranked higher than that of volatile WR5/6s.

Freiermuth had a season-high 59 yards in last week’s loss to the Browns, and then he comes out and tops that this week. Perhaps the 26-year-old is starting to hit his stride with Russell Wilson under center, but it’s also worth noting that the Steelers used lots of screen passes and misdirection to attack the Bengals’ linebackers over the middle of the field and in the flats, so perhaps this was more of a gameplan success for Freiermuth. He will face a stiffer test against the Browns next week.

The 59 yards were actually a new season high, which tells you all you need to know about how fantasy un-friendly Freiermuth’s 2024 has been. He still drew four-or-fewer targets for the seventh consecutive contest, and ninth time in 11 games. It just isn’t happening for the seam man as the Steelers try to limit Russell Wilson’s attempts and the quarterback focuses on down-field moon balls to his wideouts. Especially with all 32 teams active for Week 13, Freiermuth will be a weak TE2 despite a plus Bengals matchup.

Freiermuth continues to disappoint fantasy managers. He’s been held below 20 yards in four of his last five games and was out-targeted by Darnell Washington in Sunday’s win over the Ravens. Freiermuth is averaging 2.6 targets per game and shouldn’t be trusted in Week 12 against the Browns.

Freiermuth has seen just eight targets in three games with Russell Wilson under center. Sunday’s game against the Commanders marked the second straight game in which he finished with less than 20 receiving yards, but a short touchdown in the second quarter saved him from what would have been a disappointing fantasy outing. The target volume isn’t there for Freiermuth. He’ll be hard to trust as anything more than a touchdown-dependent TE2 in Week 11 against the Ravens.