Steelers' Pat Freiermuth: Expects 800 or 900 yards this year

Freiermuth said he expects to reach 800 or 900 yards this year, noting that his rookie-year average of 8.3 yards per catch was "atrocious", Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports.

Freiermuth had a solid debut campaign in 2021 even with the poor per-catch average, scoring seven TDs while seeing 20 of his 79 targets in the red zone. All those looks near the goal line tend to depress yardage averages like YPC and YPT, though the trade off is mostly a good one for fantasy. The bigger factor in Freiermuth's lack of yardage (497 from 60 catches) was a 5.5 aDOT, placing him 19th out of 25 TEs with 50-plus targets. That number could rise as Freiermuth improves his route-running and YAC skills and takes some snaps with QBs other than Ben Roethlisberger (though neither Mitch Trubisky nor Kenny Pickett figure to be an upgrade in terms of short-pass accuracy). Realistically, Freiermuth needs triple-digit targets to reach the yardage range he's talking about -- neither likely nor impossible. He'll get plenty of snaps if he stays healthy, as the Steelers don't have much behind him at tight end in terms of either experience or pass-catching potential now that Eric Ebron is gone.