Steelers' Pat Freiermuth Should Be Thrilled With Arthur Smith Hire According To NBC's Peter King

The Pittsburgh Steelers acted quickly to get their guy Arthur Smith as the new offensive coordinator and stopped him from taking an interview with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Smith's success as the coordinator with the Tennessee Titans, helping Derrick Henry reach career heights, has many excited for what the former Atlanta Falcons head coach can do with another Alabama Crimson Tide running back alumni in Najee Harris. NBC Sports' Peter King thinks a player in a different position should be smiling ear to ear with the hire. 

King joined The Cook and Joe Show on 93.7 The Fan on Thursday and said Pat Freiermuth should be most excited about the Steelers hitching their wagon to Smith. The veteran columnist conveyed that the 41-year-old's love affair with position-less football should be good news for Freiermuth, who has struggled to live up to the potential some thought he had coming out of Penn State. Freiermuth has dealt with injuries and an offensive coordinator who didn't seem to want to use him, but King thinks Smith could be the one to unlock him. 

"He's [Smith] going to be a tight end's best friend because he just believes that a tight end can do so many things that are hard to stop for a defense, especially an athletic tight end," King said. "I would think that Pat Freiermuth would be very happy with this hire." 

Some may want to point to Smith's failures to utilize the highest-ever drafted tight end, Kyle Pitts, during his tenure in Atlanta, after he had a monster rookie season in 2021 with 68 receptions and 1,026 yards. Pitts struggled with the injury bug in 2022, playing only 10 games. Pitts played a full season, but only started 15 games in 2023, finishing with 667 yards on 53 receptions. 

King, however, pointed to Smith's success using Jonnu Smith in Tennessee and Atlanta. Smith was drafted by the Titans in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, but didn't start to emerge as an offensive weapon until his third season when Smith arrived as the offensive play-caller. 

Smith broke out for 439 yards in 2019, eclipsing the 415-yard total he had in his first two seasons. He also rushed the ball four times for 78 yards with a long of 57. He followed up that season in 2020 with 448 yards receiving. He spent two seasons with the New England Patriots, but failed to eclipse 300 yards in either season. He was reunited with Smith in Atlanta and responded with a career year in the 2023 season with 582 receiving yards on 50 catches.  

Freiermuth is slightly bigger than the 6-foot-3 Smith, but has all kinds of athletic ability to potentially be used similarly. Freiermuth is entering the final year of his rookie deal in 2024, but hasn't reached the levels that would demand a top-flight tight end contract. If Arthur Smith is going to turn him into more of a weapon than he's been, the team might be wise to lock him up for an extension sooner rather than later.  

Steelers' Smith Will Have A Wealth Of Untapped Potential At His Favorite Position To Use

Pittsburgh has a very intriguing group of players at tight end that Smith will now have at his disposal. Despite all kinds of chatter from former offensive coordinator, Matt Canada, that he was going to find a way to unleash Connor Heyward's talents, it never really happened in 2024. 

After limited usage in 2022, Heyward got into more action in 2023 and started seven games. He was targeted 34 times, doubling his total from the previous year, but his yards only went up a little from 151 to 167. After being used a little bit as a runner in 2022, with two carries for 27 yards and collecting a pair of first downs, he had just one rushing attempt the following season for no gain. Here's to hoping Smith has a better plan for the younger Heyward than Canada. 

Darnell Washington was almost an afterthought in the passing game in 2023, as the team preferred to utilize his 6-foot-7, 264-pound frame as a blocker. He was targeted 10 times and caught seven balls for 61 yards and didn't have a score. Some think it would be best if the team moved him to tackle full-time, while others think he could be more of a weapon in the passing game. It will be up to Smith and the team's other offensive minds to decide what they think is the best course of action. 

King said that while Smith has an affinity for position-less football, he won't try to fit a square peg into a round hole if it's not working. He's got three very talented options that haven't been unlocked yet. He'll have the offseason to figure out the best way to do that. 

Do you agree with King that the tight ends should be ecstatic for the Smith hire? How would you distribute the work in that position? Comment below!

#SteelerNation