Bottom Line

Freiermuth showed flashes of being one of the best TEs in fantasy football last season. He should have an opportunity to take a leap forward in 2023 and repeat his success.

Concussion issues and injury concerns cloud his outlook, but beggars can’t be choosers at the TE position in fantasy football.

What We Learned Last Year

• Freiermuth followed up a stellar rookie campaign with a TE6 overall finish in PPR scoring (9.3 points per game) in 2022.
• He logged nine top-12 weekly finishes with a pair of top-24 finishes. Freiermuth finished as a TE3 or worse in his other five games in 2022.
• The former Penn State product stayed relatively healthy last season. However, he did pick up his third documented concussion in his career and sustained a pretty scary MCL sprain that, fortunately, didn’t require surgery.
• Among 27 TEs who received 50+ targets in 2022, Freiermuth ranked:
  • 6th in Pro Football Focus receiving grade
  • 6th in target share (19.6%)
  • 6th in air yards share (19.7%)
  • 6th in yards per route run (1.68)
• Freiermuth really took off after WR Chase Claypool was traded to the Bears. From Week 9 on, he led the Steelers in targets per route run rate (23%), ranked sixth among all TEs in targets per game (6.2), and seventh in target share (20.9%).
• What makes that even more impressive is that he ranked 22nd in snaps player per game among TEs (47.8) during that stretch.

What to Expect in 2023

• When considering the underlying implications of what we saw from Freiermuth in the second half of last year, there’s good reason to believe he’s a prime breakout candidate.
• Assuming he continues to be a safety blanket for QB Kenny Pickett, there’s no reason why Freiermuth can’t be a solid TE1 again.
• The only red flag is his documented concussion issue. Health will be a significant factor here.