Steelers Scenario Series, Part 4: Best and Worst Cases for the Tight Ends

The 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers roster is an intriguing mix of fresh talent and seasoned veterans on both sides of the ball, and each position group will have it’s own challenges to develop into an efficient, productive squad like the Front Office and Coaching Staff envision them to be. The Steelers don’t do hard resets and they never plan to be bad, and that philosophy brings with it the expectation for each group to provide winning level play every year.

With recent Draft picks looking to find their footing, new Free Agent and Trade acquisitions getting acclimated, and familiar faces returning for another year, there’s a lot of variables that play into fielding a winning roster. In this series, we’ll identify a “lynchpin” player (player who’s success or failure will most heavily impact the group) and a rising star for each position, as well as determine the best- and worst-case scenarios for the 2025 season based on the current roster.

Up next: Tight Ends (Fullbacks included)

Previous:
Offensive Line
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receiver

ON THE ROSTER

Pat Freiermuth,  Darnell Washington, JJ Galbreath, Connor Heyward (TE/FB), DJ Thomas-Jones (FB)

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Lynchpin Player: Pat Freiermuth
Rising Star: Pat Freiermuth

BEST CASE SCENARIO

With a Wide Receiver room lacking a surefire producer outside of newly acquired WR1 DK Metcalf, all eyes turn to Pat Freiermuth, the talented but underutilized TE who has yet to truly establish himself as one of the league’s best at his position. In this scenario, “Muth” finally hits that ceiling in a TE-friendly offense that finally has a QB (Aaron Rodgers) who is willing to toss the rock over the middle of the field with some regularity. Freiermuth operates as both a consistent chain-mover and a dynamic downfield threat, putting up “WR2-like” production and establishing himself as the team’s 2nd-best receiver.

Darnell Washington lives up to his draft billing as a dynamic two-way threat. Already maybe the best blocking TE in the NFL, Washington adds “true receiving threat” to his resume as a big-bodied Red Zone weapon and secondary threat at TE. Connor Heyward rarely sees the field, but when he does, he provides versatility in the run and pass game.

Note: I don’t believe the Steelers will keep a true FB on the roster, but Thomas-Jones’ skillset is intriguing as a blocker and receiving threat out of the backfield.

WORST CASE SCENARIO

The lack of WR talent puts more coverage pressure on Freiermuth, and Aaron Rodgers’ age and more recent willingness to check the ball down and not force things over the MOF limits his impact and ceiling in the offense. Washington’s receiving game never develops beyond what we’ve seen in years 1-2, and the rest of the depth fails to add any type of dynamism to the passing game.