How former Penn State football player Pat Freiermuth fits in with the Pittsburgh Steelers
Former Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth will stay in the state of Pennsylvania to begin his professional career, after being selected No. 55 overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He was the third Penn State player to be drafted after Micah Parsons and Odafe Oweh went in the first round.
Freiermuth should be an immediate impact player for the Steelers, as long as he’s healthy.
The tight end missed the last portion of Penn State’s 2020 season due to a shoulder injury that required surgery. He was healthy enough to run drills at Penn State’s March pro day but did not do any testing.
He is a high-quality all-around tight end who can stay on the field in all situations. Freiermuth is a good run blocker who relies more on his strength and physicality than technique when asked to take on defenders in the run game and when he helps offensive tackles in the passing game. He will have plenty of time to improve his technique, which should help him become one of the best blocking tight ends in the NFL.
Freiermuth is also a net positive as a receiver, showing off his talent to the tune of 16 receiving touchdowns at Penn State, breaking the school record in a career by a tight end. He’s an excellent target in the red zone because of his size, strength and catch radius. He can haul in difficult catches in tight windows and hangs onto the ball through contact when he catches it.
He also contributes outside the red zone as a reliable target in the middle of the field for a lot of the same reasons — he catches passes even when contact is coming and has sure hands. Freiermuth isn’t the type of tight end that can break a game like the first tight end off the board, new Atlanta Falcon Kyle Pitts, but can still provide value with his reliability in short-yardage situations and physicality after the catch. He won’t run away from defenders, but he will run through them at times.
Ourlads national scout and general manager Dan Shonka told the Centre Daily Times in January that he’s best-suited in the pro-style offense.
“Pat can line up in the slot, block down inside; he can run wheel routes, things like that,” Shonka said. “But I think that he’s gonna be a guy that is going to be in maybe more of a pro-style type of offense, rather than a wide-open passing attack type offense.”
