The Steelers have a SECRET weapon... | Pittsburgh Steelers News
Sep 4, 2026
After practice today, tight end Pat Fryer-Muth commented on the current state of the tight end
room in Pittsburgh and those comments highlight what I like to think is one of the most underrated
tight end rooms in all of the NFL. How is everyone doing today? Hopefully you guys are having a great
Thursday. I know that I am. Before we hop into this quote from Pat Fryer-Muth and just kind of
the current state of the tight end room in Pittsburgh as a whole, I want to remind you guys
to subscribe to the channel. It's completely free and it keeps you up to date on all things
Pittsburgh Steelers as we only get closer and closer to the start of week one in the NFL. It's
only just, it's less than a week now before the Patriots and the Seahawks kick off on a Wednesday,
weirdly enough, but obviously the Steelers, September 13th, next Sunday against the Atlanta
Falcons. It's coming, you know, it's getting, you know, sooner and sooner that date's coming closer
and closer. So you're going to make sure you're subscribed to the channel to keep up to date on
all of the, you know, that good Steeler information. Now, here's the quote that Pat Fryer-Muth had
after practice. I think a lot of people are realizing if you can get one or two good tight
ends on a roster, the capability of that offense simply goes up. I'm really excited. I'm excited
for this year. I'm excited for me and Darnell's usage and especially Tanyan and Riley Nowakowski,
who I think did a really good job in camp. Now at the top of the show, I mentioned how I like to
think, and I think this quote kind of highlights one of the most underrated tight end group,
tight end rooms in the entire NFL. Yes, they don't have that high level, you know, top tier premier
tight end like a Brock Bowers, like a Trey McBride, like a Tyler Warren, really throw any of
the names of the top tight end, Sam Laporta, Tucker Craft. I can go on and on. They don't have,
you know, one of those, you know, top level guys, even though I think Pat Fryer-Muth definitely
could be if he gets, you know, gets the usage that sometimes he just really doesn't. But what I mean
is collectively as a whole, you have Pat Fryer-Muth who's been with the team for over five years now.
He's been great nearly every single year. Maybe sometimes the usage doesn't, you know,
show and maybe he deserves some, you know, more usage, but I think just collectively as a whole,
he's been awesome. Darnell Washington, ever since he's broke on the scene, has been such a
nightmare for opposing defenses that as a tight end too, it's, you know, awesome to have that type
of player in Pittsburgh. And then you throw in a guy like Robert Tania, the, you know, the biggest
veteran out of that entire group. And then, you know, also with Riley Nowakowski, who I think's
kind of playing that counter hammer role, that collectively is one heck of a, you know,
tight end room for the Steelers. Now let's jump into kind of Pat Fryer-Muth, what he showed
last year, not a whole much, only 41 catches for 486 receiving yards, four receiving touchdowns.
I mean, kind of look at more of his percentile as, you know, some of the other things. He was
49th percentile in those receiving yards, 42nd percentile in receptions, 66th percentile in
yards per receptions at 11.85. Not the best separator, not a lot of, you know, not a lot of
cushion rate, but a great catch percentage, a great yards after catch percentage, which shows
like, again, not a whole lot of usage with Pat Fryer-Muth, but when you look at some of those,
you know, stats of what he can do with the ball in his hands, you really like what you see out of,
you know, the six-year guy in Pat Fryer-Muth. And also got to mention Darnell Washington as well,
who doesn't have the receiving yards that Pat Fryer-Muth had at 364. Definitely doesn't have
the receptions, only at 31 on 43 targets, but 91th percent separation rate, and then a 96th
average yards after the catch. Just two yak monsters in both Washington and Fryer-Muth.
That together, as kind of, if you want to think of, at least last year, combining those guys into
one tight end because they were both used relatively similarly. I know Fryer-Muth had about
10 more catches than Washington had, but that together, they separate well. They, and I think
most importantly, they, you know, create yards after the catch, which is one of the most important
things for a tight end. And then also you got to throw in Robert Tonian there as well. He's been
playing ball since 2018, had his best year in 2020 where he had 11 touchdowns. Who was his quarterback?
Of course, Aaron Rodgers. A big reason why Tonian is on the team. Has really slowed down, but I think
showed a lot of great signs in that preseason to make you think that as a tight end three,
as someone that, you know, for one, if anything happens to Fryer-Muth or Washington, you feel
really good, but you could still sprinkle him in. I'm sure Rodgers is really going to want to use
him because, you know, he had such success with him at the back half of Aaron Rodgers, you know,
tenure in Green Bay in that COVID year, he was awesome. So I think that all together, and then
Riley Nowakowski, like I mentioned, playing that Conor Hayward role, catches a lot of things as a,
you know, hard-nosed ball player, just won a championship with Indiana. I think that all
together, one of the most underrated rooms in the entire NFL. And if the Steelers want to make a
possible playoff push, they're really going to need that tight end room to play well. And that's
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on here from the tight ends, really going to be an exciting room. Got to talk about, you know,
got four tight ends, also got four quarterbacks. And this has been something that we have really
been talking a ton about recently. It's a big deal, right? With having four quarterbacks,
one of the only few teams in the entire NFL that does. Well, Howard had a quote today on, you know,
thankful, being thankful that, you know, the Steelers kept all four quarterbacks,
including himself. I'm just thankful and glad they decided to keep us all around.
I think between myself and Mason and Drew, I think we have a really great young quarterback room.
Obviously Aaron speaks for himself and all of his experience, but going forward for the future,
I think it's something to be excited about. I think it's funny there that he's referencing,
you know, Mason as a young quarterback. I don't really think of Mason Rudolph as a young
quarterback. I don't know if you guys do, but again, really happy that, you know, Will Howard
made the team, really, really happy that Drew Allard made the team, all that stuff. I think
it's just going to be really fun once again, to see how those quarterbacks play out and, you know,
what the quarterback room looks like as we go through this year. And then I think more importantly
for Will Howard and Drew Allard, how that quarterback room looks for next year, but that's
going to be, you know, a conversation for a different day. And then I just want to end the
show here on kind of a house cleaning thing. Not many signings with the Steelers, but if you were
curious, free agent, linebacker Malik Harrison, who was just recently released from the Steelers
is signing with the Giants practice squad with the goal to contribute early. This is from Jerry
Fowler, the main Steelers reporter with ESPN. The seven-year vet released by Steelers by Pittsburgh
on Sunday has 215 career tackles and 43 starts. Just want to say, you know, good luck to Malik
Harris. Wasn't able to really work out with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he actually will be
returning to be coached by John Harbaugh. So that's a nice reunion there with, you know, John Harbaugh
taking the head coach role over there in New York. Well, that's going to do it for today's show.
Let me now drop a comment down below. I'm curious what you guys think about this tight end room. Do
you think they're underrated? Do you think maybe they're, uh, you know, equally right? Like they
are rated about what they should be. Do you think they're going to be good this year? Do you think
they're going to be bad this year? Let me know what you think about that. And that's going to
do it for today's episode. We'll be back very soon with more Steelers news for you guys. And I hope
you guys have a great rest of your day.

