We've had a little bit of a roller coaster ride with Pat Freiermuth since he entered the league three years ago. First year in the league, not a ton of volume, but he did score seven touchdowns. Second year in the league, that volume ended up going up, but the touchdowns dropped all the way to two. So the hope was that in 2023, he would put everything together, but unfortunately, just nothing came together for Pat Freiermuth, having his worst season so far while dealing with a concussion.
In 2021, all of his touchdowns came with Ben Roethlisberger. In 2022, his 98 targets came with Kenny Pickett. Last season, it was a hodgepodge of quarterbacks and, unfortunately again, the injury for Pat Freiermuth. But what is 2024 going to bring with Russell Wilson and/or Justin Fields and a new offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith, who never knew how to get the ball into the hands of the weapons that he should have trusted the most in his offense in Atlanta?
When it comes to the offense, the only established pass catcher outside of Pat Freiermuth is going to be George Pickens. They brought in Van Jefferson during free agency, so he's getting acclimated to the team, and they have Roman Wilson, who was great for Michigan in college, but who knows how he'll translate in his rookie year? I mean, I like Roman Wilson; I think he's going to translate fine, but that doesn't mean that they're going to want a veteran presence really being that second option behind George Pickens, and that's where Pat Freiermuth comes into play.
But Russell Wilson really hasn't targeted his tight end position since back when Jimmy Graham was with him in Seattle. We know Justin Fields loved Cole Kmet while they were in Chicago, but would that translate to Pat Freiermuth, and does Justin Fields even play all that much this year? There's a lot of questions that need to be answered about this team.
I like Pat Freiermuth, especially as a red zone weapon. I think we could see him get back to those seven touchdowns from a couple of years ago and maybe even push towards double-digit touchdowns. The volume would be the factor for me and the one thing that I would be worried about. If we're drafting Pat Freiermuth, we just have to be ready for the range of outcomes to be so wide that, on a weekly basis, we may have some trouble trying to figure out who is going to be showing up: tight end one Pat Freiermuth or Pat Freiermuth that doesn't even get looked at on a weekly basis.
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