Rookie TE Pat Freiermuth Draws Rave Reviews from Steelers Minicamp

PITTSBURGH — The Steelers surprised a good deal of people when Pat Freiermuth was the pick when the team made its choice with the 55th overall slot in the 2021 NFL Draft.

In fact, it was a mild surprise that Freiermuth even fell to that spot. Thus far in the offseason program, it seems that coaches and his teammates are impressed with the Penn State product.

Talking with the media Thursday, veteran tight end Eric Ebron heaped praised onto the rookie he calls “Pat”for his variety of strengths within his skillset.

“Pat’s gonna be good man,” Ebron said. “I’m excited to see him grow as a tight end. … To, me he’s just a smooth playmaker. He’s silky smooth and he doesn’t look like he’s trying too hard. He looks like he’s capable of a lot.”

Ebron was not the only one who was impressed by Freiermuth. Instead, the biggest praise of the week came from Freiermuth’s new head coach, Mike Tomlin. Tomlin has seemingly been impressed and extremely satisfied with Freiermuth’s play thus far.

“I just see Pat out there working his tail off and making plays,” Tomlin said. “He’s having a good offseason and I’m excited about that.”

Coming out of Penn State, Freiermuth was heralded as a red-zone threat who can line up essentially anywhere in the offensive formation. There are limitations to his blocking capabilities as well as his intricacies in the passing gam, as there are for any rookie tight end, but it seems Freiermuth is setting himself up nicely to gain a significant role.

In the same interview Thursday, Ebron believes that the Steelers could go run more 12 personnel and 13 personnel, with two or three tight ends on the field, with the addition of Freiermuth to the room.

“I see a lot from all the tight ends who are on the roster, so two tight ends, three tight ends, we’ll mix it up and it’ll be good,” Ebron said.

With how heavily featured tight ends are in Matt Canada’s offense, and an impressive early performance expect Freiermuth to get significant snaps, even with Ebron as the starter.