The Pittsburgh Steelers know that a lot of the things that happened with the skill positions in 2025 were unacceptable. They had so little faith in the wide receiver room that they brought in two journeymen veterans to take a massive bulk of the snaps in the final month or so. It didn't help that Aaron Rodgers had lost all faith in Roman Wilson that year, which led to him constantly being a healthy scratch. From a tight end perspective, Pat Freiermuth was severely underused to the point where trade rumors started flying around.
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Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers celebrates after throwing a touchdown to tight end Pat Freiermuth during a professional football game in 2025.
In 2026, Rodgers and the Steelers have made a clear gameplan to feature some of these under-utilized players more often and expand their role. That is expected to continue on, especially with the struggles of guys like DK Metcalf. However, it is hard to get the ball to these players when the offensive line keeps breaking down and allowing a lot of hits on the quarterback.
Even with the progress made with spreading the ball around, it's not enough. During a post-practice interview, Rodgers spoke about how he wants one player to keep getting the ball more, even with his recent increase, as transcribed by Brooke Pryor.
"I think we got to get [Pat Freiermuth] involved as much as possible," Rodgers said. "I mean, he's been super reliable. He's catching the ball well. He's a fantastic player and a great guy in the locker room, great guy in the huddle, and we got to keep finding ways to get him more targets."
With the new coaching staff, the Steelers have been much more willing to utilize the middle of the field, which has helped Freiermuth out a lot. That, as well as the red zone, is where he thrives the most, and it has shown so far through two weeks. As the season progresses, the tight end will likely become a security blanket for Rodgers with the sure hands that the quarterback spoke about.
In the first two weeks, Freiermuth has caught nine of 10 passes for 78 yards and the only offensive touchdown of the season. He also had his first career rushing attempt, as he got a first down while running the Pittsburgh Plunge in place of former Steeler Connor Heyward. Even though the yards per catch (YPC) isn't as high as the Steelers would like, this is still an improvement for sure.
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Steelers' Pat Freiermuth scores a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 of the 2026 season.
With a lot of uncertainty surrounding the offense as a whole, Freiermuth has been one of the few stable, consistent pieces so far. With how well he has been catching the ball, Rodgers will likely end up making him the hot read when he's under pressure. Either way, the tight end definitely needs to get the ball in his hands more often to help give this unit some life in the upcoming games.
Steelers' Issues Could End Up Benefitting Freiermuth
With the issues that Pittsburgh has with the receiving corps and the offensive line, it would not be surprising to see the offense start running more multi-tight end sets like they did in previous years, especially since that is what Rodgers seems to be more comfortable with. Having that extra tight end in on a regular basis will make it much harder on the Steelers to pull Freiermuth off the field, even for run plays.
Through the first two weeks, he has played 69% of the offensive snaps. If the Steelers end up adjusting to these bigger sets, that number will go up significantly for Freiermuth. Even if he keeps running these shorter routes, it's better than Rodgers throwing a dangerous pass on the outside with a low percentage of it being caught. Either way, he needs the ball in his hands, and the quarterback wants to make it happen.
What do you think about Rodgers wanting to give Freiermuth more targets, even with the boost he has gotten there? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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