What Are the Steelers Getting in Pat Freiermuth?
Tight end Pat Freiermuth was drafted 55th overall on Friday by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Freiermuth stands 6-foot-5, 251 pounds and owns an 84th percentile college dominator rating as well as an 82nd percentile breakout age, per PlayerProfiler. His final college season was cut short due to injury, but Freiermuth showed out in the four games in which he did play, totaling 23 grabs for 310 yards and a tuddie.
What should we expect from Freiermuth in 2021?
Player Comparisons
Brandon Gdula's draft database has found these 10 prior prospects to have the most similar statistical profiles to Freiermuth. Keep in mind that these are based not on play style or traits but age, athleticism, draft equity, experience, efficiency, and production.
| Pat Freiermuth Profile Comparisons | Similarity |
|---|---|
| Austin Seferian-Jenkins | 90.5% |
| Hunter Henry | 90.3% |
| Jace Amaro | 88.2% |
| Rob Gronkowski | 87.9% |
| Mark Andrews | 86.5% |
| Marcedes Lewis | 86.2% |
| Heath Miller | 85.5% |
| Cole Kmet | 85.2% |
| Tyler Eifert | 84.2% |
| TJ Hockenson | 83.7% |
Gdula's Take: Freiermuth played just four games in 2020 but was heavily targeted in the Penn State offense and rightly has the "Baby Gronk" monitor given the athleticism and production. He's getting a little overlooked with Kyle Pitts dominating the headlines among tight ends.
Freiermuth's 2021 Fantasy Football Projection
Tight ends notoriously start slowly in the NFL. That coupled with the presence of Eric Ebron gives Freiermuth a pretty low rookie-year ceiling.
Zachariason's initial projections for Freiermuth include 16 catches for 160 yards and 2.2 touchdowns, making him the TE44 for the season.
On FanDuel Sportsbook, the Steelers are listed at +3600 to win the Super Bowl and +420 to take the AFC North, and they have a win total projection of 8.5 on FOX Bet.
