Matt Waldman’s RSP shares his sample scouting report of Pittsburgh Steelers’ TE Pat Freiermuth one of Matt’s favorite tight ends from the 2021 NFL Draft Class.
Pat Freiermuth’s Pre-NFL Draft Scouting Report
The report below is the draft profile from the 2021 Rookie Scouting Portfolio, the most comprehensive NFL Draft and Fantasy-Dynasty publication of its kind available for rookie prospects at the skill positions. Entering its 18th year of publication, Matt Waldman’s RSP is one of the most purchased cross-checking resources for NFL scouts, according to college recruiting directors like SMU’s Alex Brown, who meets with scouts weekly.
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RSP Ranking: TE2
Height: 6-6 Weight: 258 School: Penn State
Comparison Spectrum: Rob Gronkowski–Heath Miller/X–Hunter Henry/Austin Hooper
Depth of Talent Score: 83.3 = Rotational Starter: Executes at a starter level in a role that is playing to his strengths.
Games Tracked:
The Elevator Pitch for Freiermuth: Let’s begin again with the player comparison. Penn State fans like celebrating Freiermuth as “Baby Gronk,” and if you’re comparing them as blockers, the point is valid. Freiermuth is the best blocking tight end of the top tight end prospects this year—and by a wide margin. His receiving game also looks a lot like Gronkowski’s—he’s mobile, has good hand-eye coordination, and he plays with physicality in the open field.
He lacks Gronkowski’s top gear. Maybe he should be “Gronkowski with a speed limit,” “Governed Gronk,” or “Governor Gronk.”
Yeah, none of that is as slick as “Baby Gronk,” even if less accurate.
He’s not exactly a lost name in this class, but the Kyle Pitts mania has overshadowed the conversation about most other tight ends. It’s a shame because Freiermuth has the potential to deliver as a receiver and blocker. He might be the best all-around tight end in this class if giving greater weight to blocking.
He should provide an NFL team with an anchor at the line of scrimmage and a reliable target whose maximum range of 25-35 yards is plenty for most offenses. There will be a lot of teams that won’t view Freiermuth as a consolation prize for not earning a shot at Pitts.
Where has the player improved? Freiermuth was taking a full step off his back foot before rolling off his front foot against Maryland. Against Ohio State, he only rocked off the back foot.
Where is the player inconsistent? His double-move with weight drop and a turn inside or outside. When he delivers the weight drop, this move baits tight ends and safeties. When he rushes through it and doesn’t drop his weight, coverage doesn’t bite.
What is the best scheme fit? Penn State uses Freiermuth on the wing, inside trips and middles trips as a detached receiver, and inline. They’ll also isolate him as the single receiver in a 1×2 set in the red zone. Freiermuth would help teams that want to use multiple tight ends like the Jets or shore up a depth chart like the Jaguars.
What is his ceiling scenario? Freiermuth could become a Pro Bowl player because of his blocking and reliable receiving skills to generate 50-60 catches, 600-800 yards, and 5-7 scores.
What is his floor scenario? He winds up the blocking tight end and shallow receiver in a scheme with a lot of sets incorporating two tight ends and it limits his receiving upside.
Physical: He has enough burst to beat a safety on a crossing route when that safety is playing tight to the line of scrimmage or giving a shallow cushion. He wins up the flat and seam against linebackers with a double move and he’ll stack the opponent on both intermediate and vertical targets.
He’s also physical enough to pancake linebackers and safeties while handling the bull rush of top edge athletes in college football long enough to give his quarterback room to maneuver from the pocket.
Technical: He excels as a tight-coverage pass catcher over the middle against tight trail coverage. He has some short-area quickness and acceleration, but he’s not fast.
Conceptual: He also uses an overhand position with targets that he could catch underhand and over his shoulder, but he attacks the ball at the earliest point. When necessary, Freiermuth has the hand-eye coordination to reach for the ball away from his frame with one hand and snare the ball or at least tip it softly with his fingertips and bring the ball back to his frame.
Intuitive: Freiermuth has a good feel for when tight coverage has gotten the better of him early in the route and adjusts fast enough to earn separation.
Build: He’s built like a player who could deliver 10-12 years of in-line play at the position in the NFL.
Releases: Freiermuth uses an 80/20 staggered two-point stance with the weight favoring his front foot. His arms are uncrossed in the stance. When he releases, he takes a step off his back foot before rolling off his front foot. Although he had more releases during the Indiana game where he didn’t have wasted movement, the extra step was the norm during the season.
Freiermuth earns a nice lean with his pads over his knees. He keeps his eyes up and pumps his arms to sell the vertical out of the stance.
He has a quick-two release pattern that he pairs with a swat of the inside arm and a chop of the outside arm. He also has a hesitation against off-coverage that’s effective but could be more pronounced to sell more NFL defenders.
When bumped at the line from a three-point stance, Freiermuth has an effective rip with his inside arm. He’ll also avoid contact with a defensive end with a shoulder dip of his inside pad as he works outside.
He combines the stick with a lean-in as a stair-step release method against off-coverage, threatening the leverage midway through the stem with the stick and using the lean-in the rest of the way before breaking open at the top of the stem. He has a similar combination with the hesitation followed with the lean-in.
Another off-coverage footwork method he employs is the stutter near the top of the stem. He pairs it with a wipe or chop. He has a quick three that he’ll also use against a defender playing with some cushion.
When a defender shoots his hands during Freiermuth’s stem, Freiermuth will respond with a shed, but he can be earlier with the move so he’s meeting the contact with his hand and not brushing off the contact after it knocks Freiermuth off his line.
When detached as a receiver on a running play, Freiermuth will steal a release against an off-coverage defender. He’ll use a hesitation or quick-two before attacking as a blocker.
Separation: He has enough burst to beat a safety on a crossing route when that safety is playing tight to the line of scrimmage or giving a shallow cushion. He wins up the flat and seam against linebackers with a double move and he’ll stack the opponent on both intermediate and vertical targets.
If the secondary playing zone loses Freiermuth and he gets behind them, he can hold off a cornerback on the same side of the field for 35-40 yards before they make up the gap of 7-10 yards.
Freiermuth has better quickness and initial acceleration than sustained speed. The RSP’s data source has Freiermuth’s top speed on the cusp of the Committee and Reserve Tiers. His upside isn’t as limited in the receiving game as it would be if he were a wide receiver. This has to do with the route tree that Freiermuth will run from an inline position and the slot that doesn’t demand sustained long speed.
Route Stems: Freiermuth tells effective stories with his stems. He can begin a route against off-coverage with a dive inside, finish the stem by widening the path to the outside, and then spin inside as his break.
Route Setups: Freiermuth will widen an off-coverage defender playing shallow, baiting him with a slower tempo, and then accelerate past him up the seam as he flattens out the stem. He also sells the out-and-up effectively. The out has a full turn to the sideline from the feet up to the helmet and he’s quick enough to work past the linebacker.
He has an effective lean-in against a safety playing him tight at the line with outside shade. He’ll set up the move with a quick-two, attacking the outside leverage, leaning into the man and then breaking inside.
When a defender is handling Freiermuth tight during his stem and he can’t earn position downhill, he’ll take the back of the defender to get that path.
Route Breaks: Freiermuth snaps his angular breaks inside (post, slants, and some crossers) and gets his head around fast. He’ll work with the quarterback and present a friendly target, even when coverage is tight and holding him during the break back to the quarterback operating off-script.
Freiermuth has flat breaks on out- and in-breaking routes. He has a sharp drive and line steps out of his speed turn. He can also deliver a long break step, drop his weight, and snap his turns at the breakpoint. He’ll also break back to the football.
Although Freiermuth isn’t sudden with his movements, he has a good double move up the seam where he drops is weight and gives a third-quarter turn with his frame to the inside or outside. This baits the safety or linebacker playing off him and Freiermuth is able to continue up the field past the defender.
He setups up breaks over the middle where he can spin inside as his break and earn a square position immediately. His double moves aren’t quick, especially when he’s dropping his weight to set up the route.
Zone Routes: When facing man-to-man but crossing behind a zone defender in the middle of the field, Freiermuth waits to show his eyes until he has worked past the zone defender.
Route Boundary: Freiermuth displays awareness of the boundary even when pulling the ball away from a shallow defender on a jump-back.
Pass Tracking: He can track the ball over his shoulder and then turn back the ball with a well-timed jump-back to pull the ball away from the trailing opponent.
Hands/Catch Radius: He uses the appropriate overhand technique with numbers-high targets. He highpoints the ball well. He also uses an overhand position with targets that he could catch underhand and over his shoulder, but he attacks the ball at the earliest point. When necessary, Freiermuth has the hand-eye coordination to reach for the ball away from his frame with one hand and snare the ball or at least tip it softly with his fingertips and bring the ball back to his frame. Freiermuth can snatch the ball, getting the target quickly into his frame.
Position: When running vertical routes, he has excellent jump-back technique to earn position on an underthrown ball away from the coverage over the top.
Focus: Freiermuth catches the ball against tight trail coverage and reached for the ball at chest level as he secures the target on the move. He uses underhand position well with a defender riding him the entire route—holding him in fact—and can still get low and make the grab after working with the quarterback.
Freiermuth also makes plays in tight windows of zone coverage, catching the ball with a defender tight to his back and spinning into a hard head-on hit from a safety. He maintains possession of the ball.
Transitions: Freiermuth executes good catch-and-pierce principles and obeys the direction of the ball.
Elusiveness: Freiermuth has a quick enough spin in the open field to make a cornerback miss his downhill angle. In the flat, he can draw a linebacker and safety downhill and then slide inside both of them after his initial press.
Vision: Freiermuth is patient with blocks in the flats and boundaries. He’ll set up defenders with a press toward one side of his blocks and make an effective cutback. In the open field, he’ll veer away from the nearest pursuit.
Power: He’s strong enough to pull through wraps to his waist from trailing linebackers. He’ll finish runs by dropping his pads into oncoming shots by safeties working across the field.
Direct Contact Balance: He can get stalemated with a hard hit to the chest from a linebacker. But he isn’t going down easily.
Indirect Contact Balance: He will punish defensive backs as the aggressor when he gets downhill.
Blocking: When on the wing in a two-point crouch, he’ll come out of his stance with a flat back and get under the pads of a defensive end, standing the defender up with an uppercut motion and roll of the hips. He moves his feet well to the inside after contact to turn the defender away from the ballcarrier.
Freiermuth is a capable reach blocker who moves efficiently to the outside while maintaining a low position to strike upward and then continue moving his feet with excellent control to turn the edge defender away from the ballcarrier.
When he’s beaten to the punch, he’s susceptible to a push-pull move because he’s attacking low with his back flat and the intent is to strike first. When this doesn’t happen, his leverage is strong.
His feet are quick enough to get his back to the backside edge defender when executing cutoff blocks.
When he gets his hands on the defender at the line of scrimmage, he keeps his arms bent and his hands tight. As a result, he’s chest-to-chest with opponents and he can run his feet fast enough to pancake a weakside linebacker or safety. He’s a good combo blocker who will peel off the primary man and reach the second level with a strong position on the safety or linebacker—sealing them to the side that gives a ballcarrier a lane.
He has excellent placement of his hands with good leverage when assigned with collapsing defensive ends inside. He’ll often move then 3-4 yards backward and then inside the tackle box. This gives his ballcarrier a lot of room at the edge.
Freiermuth transitions smoothly from route runner to blocker, tilting into the defender after he ran the opponent downfield.
As a pass protector, Freiermuth can run the defender around the pocket if he maintains contact with his hands tight to the opponent’s frame. He’s not as quick to work around the edge if he’s not making contact with the defender.
He’s usable against bull-rushing defensive ends with the size of Ohio State’s edge men—he moves his feet well enough to maintain his hands and at least give the quarterback room to maneuver the pocket away from the push.
As a stalk blocker, Freiermuth will break down within 2-5 yards of the defender and let the defender come to him before delivering his hands. He takes the aggressor’s role once the defender is close enough and that that point, he will punch, move his feet, and dominate. Freiermuth delivers a lot more pancakes of defenders than any tight end that I’ve seen this year and maybe in 2-3 years.
Ball Security: He carries the ball high to his frame and under the arm working away from pursuit. He can take a hit to the ball and maintain possession.
Durability: He suffered a shoulder injury in 2020 after playing 30 straight games. He missed the rest of the season after four starts.
Pre-Draft Fantasy Advice: Freiermuth isn’t the sexy pick that Pitts is, or maybe even Brevin Jordan, but he’s one of the safer options in this class. He’ll need the right team to maximize his receiving upside beyond the ceiling I mentioned, and it’s doubtful he lands in that situation. However, he’s still a worthwhile pick for fantasy GMs, especially in the mid-to-late first in 1.5 PPR leagues and the late second or early third round in standard PPR formats.
Boiler/Film Room Material (Links to plays):
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