Thanks to the four-year, $42 million extension Darnell Washington signed last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers now have two highly paid tight ends for first-year head coach Mike McCarthy to work with.
The only challenge? McCarthy historically doesn’t utilize many two-tight end sets within his offensive scheme.
That might change some due to the personnel and the unique skill sets that both Washington and Freiermuth possess. It won’t be a huge change for McCarthy, but he could lean more on 12-personnel packages with the Steelers.
Still, there are questions about playing time and usage for both Washington and Freiermuth.
For the Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo, who appeared on the North Shore Drive podcast Wednesday, he doesn’t have those concerns. Instead, he sees an even split for Washington and Freiermuth.
“I would expect, just listening to McCarthy talk about Washington this spring, and that wasn’t the first time he praised him, I think it will at least be 50-50,” Fittipaldo said of the Steelers’ top two tight ends, according to video via the show’s YouTube page.
That won’t be much of a change from last season, at least based on snap counts.
Prior to being lost for the season with a broken forearm, Washington played 546 offensive snaps, finishing with 52.46% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps.
Though he started slow and didn’t have much of a role due to Jonnu Smith’s presence, Freiermuth played 522 snaps, finishing with a 50.63% share of the Steelers’ offensive snaps.
With Smith’s departure and McCarthy having a bit more offensive creativity, it should be easier to get both tight ends on the field more often, either together in two-TE sets or individually, pushing near the 60% mark in offensive snaps.
Together, the two will give the Steelers plenty of versatility offensively. They’ll be able to run the football with Washington on the field and will be able to challenge teams through the air with Freiermuth on the field, either in-line or as a slot option.
That could make the Steelers very difficult to defend.
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