Instant Fantasy Analysis - TE Pat Freiermuth, Steelers

[The Football Guru 211]

Team Fit: Pittsburgh fans will almost certainly see shades of Heath Miller in its new tight end. There are very few traditional tight ends available in any draft nowadays, but Freiermuth may be about as close to one as this year will provide. As far as his contribution to the run game, he isn't a dominant blocker yet, but he has the ability (and size) to become one down the road. As a receiver, he is similar to Hunter Henry in that he has great hands (three drops on 99 targets over his last two seasons) and above-average run-after-catch ability. He possesses decent speed once he gets rolling with the ball in his hands - check out his 74-yard catch against Nebraska last season - and difficult to bring down. It is that last part where some of the "Baby Gronk" mentions are legit. He also didn't appear to be too much out of his element when he lined up in the slot, although it is hard to believe he will line up there very often. Freiermuth figures to spend a good part of his rookie year sharpening up his blocking skills to counteract what figures to be a dicey offensive line.

What does it mean in redraft? Low-end TE2. There are just too many weapons in Pittsburgh right now. Not only is Eric Ebron still on the roster, but it doesn't help matters JuJu Smith-Schuster runs a lot of short routes that would typically go to a tight end.

Where should I expect him to go in my rookie drafts? Check back next week.

[Law 220]

As a Steeler fan....yawn.

The guy is average all around. Yes, he does everything OK. That doesn't excite me. I agreed with the Harris pick at 1as they needed a top back because they would have had hot garbage otherwise. J Williams and Etienne weren't going to fall to the second and they didn't.

But who could the Steelers have gotten in the 2nd? How about OT J Mayfield?

Instead of an OG (K Green) who may be able to play OC, they could have drafted an OC in Q Meinerz in the third.

Do you think Harris, Mayfield, and Meinerz could have helped the run game? I do.

In the 4th, now take a TE! They could have gotten an athlete in B Jordan from Miami (FL) instead of a project in OT D Moore.

With the second 4th, I would have taken Q Roche who they did take in the 6th. Good value for him that late!

In the 5th, they took a developmental DE (a DT for them) in Loudermilk. Another yawn. I would have taken CB R Williams. He's better than Norwood.

In the 6th (where the Steelers took Roche), I would have taken OG T Smith. I think my 3 OLs of Mayfield, Meinerz, and Smith are way better than Green and Moore.

In the 7th, I would have taken NT Tonga. I was actually OK with the pick of P Harvin.

 

 

[Smileseers 54]

The consensus #2TE overall is more than average all around IMO.  Ben likes his Tes.  So will a different QB in the Steelers future.  Ebron will likely be gone and the Steelers will have a viable Te on the cheap.  It makes sense to me.

OT J Mayfield went in the third round.

[Kopy 489]

I'd like to chime in on this one. If Law is a Steelers fan, then he'll certainly know about them far more than I would as a casual observer. I think we would all agree that if you're a die-hard fan, you obsess, even over the little things. However my .02 is directed at the player, and not the franchise.

IMHO. Freiermuth is better than every TE was in the 2020 draft class. He's number 2 this year only because of a freak prospect we haven't seen since Vernon Davis came out. And I'm willing to go out on a early limb and say, he's a better prospect then all but 1 guy in next year's 2021 draft class.

I'm really not sure what there is to not like about the kid?

 

[jrokh 567]

6 hours ago, Kopy said:

I'd like to chime in on this one. If Law is a Steelers fan, then he'll certainly know about them far more than I would as a casual observer. I think we would all agree that if you're a die-hard fan, you obsess, even over the little things. However my .02 is directed at the player, and not the franchise.

IMHO. Freiermuth is better than every TE was in the 2020 draft class. He's number 2 this year only because of a freak prospect we haven't seen since Vernon Davis came out. And I'm willing to go out on a early limb and say, he's a better prospect then all but 1 guy in next year's 2021 draft class.

I'm really not sure what there is to not like about the kid?

 

To be fair last year's TE class was incredibly bad. But I agree with you Friermuth is the truth...

[Law 220]

On 5/10/2021 at 10:43 PM, Smileseers said:

The consensus #2TE overall is more than average all around IMO.  Ben likes his Tes.  So will a different QB in the Steelers future.  Ebron will likely be gone and the Steelers will have a viable Te on the cheap.  It makes sense to me.

OT J Mayfield went in the third round.

Average all around is not my opinion, that's the draft reviews out on him. He's not fast, he's not a great athlete, he's not a great blocker...but he's not bad at these things either. That doesn't seem like a sound 2nd round pick, a luxury one at that. A second round pick is cheap in pay, not cheap in draft equity.

As for Mayfield, yes, he went in the 3rd. The 4th pick in the 3rd to be exact, long before the Steelers could have gotten him in the 3rd. They took a TE 13 picks earlier. Mayfield had a first round grade by some. Who knows, maybe this TE goes to the HOF. But for the value and for the immediate needs, Mayfield was the better pick. IMO