For much of the 2025 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers were a hot mess at the tight end position. It wasn’t for a lack of talent. Pat Freiermuth has had a couple of solid seasons to start his young career, and Darnell Washington has been good enough to earn a large extension this offseason. Even Jonnu Smith was coming off an 884-receiving yard season in Miami the year prior.
For a couple of reasons, things didn’t really work out. Smith got an abundance of touches and had one of the more interestingly bad seasons we’ve seen in quite some time. Washington had his nice moments but could have been used more consistently. And Pat Freiermuth was nowhere to be found for long periods of time.
Under Mike McCarthy in 2026, the tight end position is set for a rebrand.
It’s a spot McCarthy prioritizes, despite the talent the Steelers added out wide this offseason. You don’t have to look further back than his last stop in Dallas to see some evidence of that. In 2020, Dalton Schultz had 615 yards. That number jumped up to 808 in 2021, and Schultz then finished second on the team in that stat in 2022 with 577. The next year, Jake Ferguson hauled in 761 receiving yards, beating out the second and third receivers, Brandin Cooks and Michael Gallup.
Granted, the version of Dak Prescott during those seasons is probably more talented than the version of Aaron Rodgers we’ll see this year. But the point is, McCarthy’s offense has consistently targeted tight ends, even when there’s plenty of receiving talent out wide.
An idea his quarterback would agree with, too. While Arthur Smith pulled out all the cards for Jonnu in their third stop together last season, Rodgers continually stressed an importance on getting Freiermuth the ball. And when he did get the ball, Freiermuth was productive with it. He caught 41 of 54 targets. His 11.9 yards per reception was the best of his career. And for the third time in five seasons, he scored at least four touchdowns.
He’s not the only tight end in the room, though. Fresh off a massive payday, McCarthy is envisioning a larger role for Washington as well. The young tight end broke onto the scene last year with 364 receiving yards. A career-best number by a substantial margin.
What was most encouraging, though, was the way those receiving yards came. We know he’s a problem to tackle, and an obvious matchup problem against smaller defenders. But in the intermediate part of the game, where route running and understanding coverages are more important, Washington took some big steps. You’ll see both those on this reception below.
Aside from those two, Robert Tonyan and Riley Nowakowski are two other names to keep an eye on. Tonyan has experience with Rodgers, the only quarterback with whom he’s been able to flourish. And while Nowakowski will spend some time in the backfield, he should see work at tight end too. He’s sneaky good after the catch and made several clutch plays during Indiana’s title run last year.
The Steelers’ offense has many more tools to play with than it did last year. If guys like Germie Bernard, Michael Pittman Jr. and Roman Wilson can step up, it will make life even easier on the tight ends.
But it’s a room that should step up this year anyways. It’s the second year with Rodgers for both Freiermuth and Washington, and there’s solid depth behind them. Couple that with a play caller who isn’t afraid to use the position, and the Steelers have a lot of potential at tight end this year.