Good Tuesday to you Steelers fans.
Pittsburgh Steelers’ tight end Pat Freiermuth was a recent guest on Ben Roethlisberger’s Podcast and his comments have some people talking. He admitted the Steelers’ offense under Matt Canada was ‘so simple’ and didn’t even have ‘hot reads.’ He and Big Ben often laugh jokingly or light-heartedly about jet sweeps during their conversation. Muth clearly was comfortable chatting with the now retired Roethlisberger despite them being teammates for just one season. I’m not sure that airing such comments is helpful but at the same time I don’t believe Muth was saying anything people didn’t know. The bigger issue for me is that why the Steelers were so reticent to allow Kenny Pickett to have a little more offensive freedom. Hot reads were no doubt featured in the offense he ran and Pitt and I’m guessing he may even have had them at the high school level. The fact that Canada and Mike Tomlin felt it was better not to incorporate them is puzzling to me. I get not wanting to put too much on his plate but this seems to be something that would have been eventually introduced. I continue to wonder just how big of a mistake keeping Canada will turn out to be.
Tweet of the Day… Too good to pass up.
How many points did Eli Apple lose by?? https://t.co/aSPgLQSWs1 pic.twitter.com/i39zRjBTrW
— Ty 🦦 (@BillsGuyTy) January 30, 2023
Let’s Talk Tight Ends
Here’s what we know about the current state of the Steelers’ tight end position. Pat Freiermuth remains on his rookie contract and has placed himself in the upper half of tight end talent across the league. He’s also suffered numerous concussions during his first two seasons and that has to be a concern. Zach Gentry has made himself into one helluva number two tight end. While he isn’t going to make anyone jump out of their seat with speed and athleticism, he’s become a very good blocker and a dependable outlet for the quarterback. He is however, a free agent and I suspect there will be a few teams that look to add him as depth for their teams. The Steelers are going to have to be very judicious about how they approach keeping him. They don’t want to overpay, but they also don’t want to low-ball him either. Then there’s Connor Heyward who clearly has a role on this team going forward. He’s not a true tight end and he’s not a fullback either. What he can do is catch the football and he’s more than willing to be a core Special Teamer. His lack of in-line blocking skills is a problem but you find ways to use him. So… With this being a very deep tight end class, it will be very interesting to see what unfolds for the Steelers. They will either stand pat with what they have or they’ll be in desperate need of a true, blocking tight end.
Rooting Interest
I’m already of tired of fans telling other fans who they can and can’t root for in the Super Bowl. Me personally, I don’t “root” for anything other than a competitive game in this case. It’s not going to bother me whether Philly or KC win a Lombardi Trophy. Now if the Ravens, Bengals, Browns, Pats or Cowboys were in this game I’d probably have a rooting interest but be that as it may. Support for whomever you choose.
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