Pat Freiermuth

He has turned into a touchdown machine under Mike McCarthy, and week 5 of 2026's 21.5 points shows how he pays you when it lands. His red-zone share is 18% of Pittsburgh's red-zone carries and targets in his games, TE4 among 23 tight ends with 20 or more carries and targets of their own. He sits first among PIT tight ends, ahead of Darnell Washington and Robert Tonyan, so the role is his.

The catch is that almost none of the production comes through the air. He has 169 receiving yards on 19 catches through week 5 of 2026, and on tracked targets he separates from the nearest defender by 2.7 yards, TE15 among 18 tight ends with 15 or more tracked targets. The target share fell from 17.0% in 2024 to 10.3% in 2025, with DK Metcalf and Kenny Gainwell taking 39% of Pittsburgh's targets between them a year ago. A profile this heavy on scores and this light on yardage costs you when the touchdowns dry up, which was most weeks in 2025: he cleared 15 points once in 15 games.

On the season as a whole, our projection was 91 points, and at his current pace he would blow well past it. Set the pace against our preseason pace instead: we expected 6.1 points a game from him before the season, and he is running at 12.1 through five weeks. The middle range of outcomes ran 72 to 109 points, so some giveback is coming, but he has not missed a game and the bye does not arrive until week 9 of 2026. We would keep starting him while the scores keep coming, and if two quiet weeks stack up, that is the signal the touchdown luck has turned.