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Who’s the Steelers’ TE1?
The Steelers have a new tight end — a Pro Bowl tight end, at that — following Monday’s trade for Jonnu Smith and Jalen Ramsey from the Miami Dolphins.
Smith, coming off a career year, will join a Steelers tight end room featuring Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington in 2025. While Washington should remain a blocking specialist, Freiermuth and Smith are both receiving tight ends — who will be the top target between them?
Will Pat Freiermuth or Jonnu Smith have the bigger 2025?
I fully expect Freiermuth to remain the Steelers’ TE1 in 2025. Compared to Smith, Freiermuth has a more traditional tight end skill set, as he’s a good pass-catcher but also the better blocker of the two.
The Steelers will be utilizing a lot of tight ends in the upcoming season, but Freiermuth has the most situational versatility of his position group, meaning he should be on the field the most.
But Smith will also be seeing a lot of playing time. He was dynamic in Miami last year, and the Steelers aren’t paying him $12 million to not be a major contributor on offense. While Freiermuth might operate as a more traditional tight end, Smith can be a “move” tight end who even operates as the Steelers’ slot receiver from time to time.
Although Freiermuth might see more snaps and a higher ranking on the depth chart, it’s hard to tell who will have more receiving opportunities in 2025.
Ultimately, I’ll stick with Freiermuth. Over his career up to this point (2021-24), he’s actually outproduced Smith in terms of yards and touchdowns despite Smith’s monster 2024.
And in Jonnu Smith’s last season in an Arthur Smith offense, he put up 582 yards as the Falcons’ TE2 — a good mark, but less than Freiermuth’s 653 last season.
Atlanta’s TE1 that season, Kyle Pitts, put up 667 yards, and I’d expect Freiermuth and Smith to put up similar numbers in 2025.
The real question might be who the Steelers’ third-most productive pass-catcher will be in 2025 behind D.K. Metcalf and Freiermuth. Can Calvin Austin III (548 yards last year) keep his spot, or will Jonnu Smith steal a significant amount of the slot production? Could Robert Woods or Roman Wilson become bigger contributors than expected?
It definitely feels like the Steelers have a more exciting group of pass-catchers this year compared to last, even if the wide receiver room is still underpowered compared to the rest of the league. But even if he doesn’t repeat his Pro Bowl season, the Jonnu Smith trade should definitely make the Pittsburgh offense better.
Who do you think the Steelers’ TE1 is? Any thoughts on the pass-catcher hierarchy? Join the BTSC community and let us know in the comments!