The Pittsburgh Steelers may have finally found a solid tight-end in the NFL draft after Heath Miller retired in 2016. That is how long the Steelers have been looking for a solid tight-end to come in and produce at an elite level. Pat Freiermuth has a good chance to become the next 'Heath Miller,' but for now, we will tamper expectations until he starts playing football in 2021 with the Steelers. Many Steelers coaches are excited to get going with Freiermuth going forward especially tight-end coach Alfredo Roberts.
Freimuth has a great relationship with Steeler's tight-end coach Alfredo. You could see it when the Steelers were at his Pro Day. You could see Freiermuth hugging Roberts and calling him his guy. He also said he would like to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers during his pre-draft process. Little did he know he got the call to join the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft. Now Roberts is excited to start working with him.
Alfredo Roberts on Pat Freiermuth: “He is exciting to me. I am excited to work with him.” Roberts said. “Had a chance to work with him at his Pro Day. With the energy he exudes, he is a serious but fun guy. He has some position flexibility. He will be kind of a throwback tight end because he can play the position and do multiple things. You can flex him out. His positional flexibility is going to give us a chance to do a lot of different things and a lot of different sets with the guys that are already here.”
Not only does Roberts have high expectations for Freiermuth going forward they're expecting him to grow in a role they envision him in. Roberts feels as he grows he will become more efficient at blocking. That is something the Steelers were lacking in 2020 with Eric Ebron. The Steelers feel Pat already has some natural knee bending, and is good at the pad level, but the Steelers will find a way to get him even better going forward.
Alfredo Roberts compared Pat Freiermuth to Hunter Henry who is now on the New England Patriots, but he says he is a little bit different because he is built differently. It sounds like Roberts is really impressed with how put-together Freiermuth is and it will be fun to work with him going forward. It is safe to say the Steelers are looking forward to Pat Freiermuth coming in to work with Eric Ebron going forward. Let's just hope they finally have found their gem at the tight-end position because it has been a long road in regards to finding a suitable replacement ever since Heath Miller has retired in 2016.