Pittsburgh Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth is entering his sixth season in the NFL. During that time, he’s played under several offensive coordinators. During his first two seasons, it was Matt Canada. In his third season, Canada was fired midseason, and interim co-coordinators Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan ran the offense. The last two seasons, it was Arthur Smith.

This year, Freiermuth will not only have a new offensive coordinator in Brian Angelichio, but he’ll also play for an offense-minded head coach in Mike McCarthy. That’s a big departure for Freiermuth. On Wednesday, a reporter asked him what he likes about McCarthy’s offense, and Freiermuth couldn’t help but smile during his response.

“Use of the middle of the field,” Freiermuth said per video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “The use of the talent we have. I’m excited for what’s going to come this year.”

Earlier this offseason, Freiermuth said he feels the offense will be the best it’s been since the Ben Roethlisberger era. Freiermuth’s first season in the league was Roethlisberger’s last. So he got to see the end of the era up close and personal. He’s got a better perspective on that offense than any other offensive player in Pittsburgh.

No doubt Freiermuth still feels a little hard done by the offensive struggles over the last few years. Under Arthur Smith, we expected a tight end-centric offense. Unfortunately for Freiermuth, that didn’t translate into more targets. If anything, it went down. He saw 54 targets, the fewest in his career in a season in which he played every single game. TE Jonnu Smith, whom the Steelers brought in as part of the DB Jalen Ramsey trade, saw the same number of targets.

Pat Freiermuth is now excited about his new offense, while Smith just signed with the Green Bay Packers on Thursday.

An offense that favors using the middle of the field, something that hasn’t happened in recent years, should benefit Pat Freiermuth greatly. After all, he’s a tight end. He spends a lot of time in the middle of the field. The emphasis on using the middle of the field is a big departure from under former head coach Mike Tomlin.

Tomlin didn’t want his offense targeting the middle of the field because he believed that’s where many turnovers occur. He was a defensive-minded coach, so he wanted his offense to protect the ball and keep his defense fresh. However, anytime an offense ignores a part of the field, that makes life easier for the opposing defense. He felt the trade-off was worth it; Freiermuth obviously doesn’t.

McCarthy is an offensive coach. He doesn’t want to limit his offense by ignoring a portion of the field. That will help tight ends like Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, and Robert Tonyan. We saw that in training camp, where our very own Alex Kozora saw how much Freiermuth was being used:

Welcome back, Pat Freiermuth. After feeling absent a year ago, the new coaching staff wasted no time feeding him the ball throughout training camp. Per our stats through the first seven practices, Freiermuth ranked third on the team in targets (13) and tied-second in receptions (11). The high catch rate reflects his usual reliable self, and Aaron Rodgers peppered him with targets. Especially down the middle of the field against blitzes, repeatedly hitting him with quick-fire passes.

It could also benefit wide receivers, which leads us to the second part of Freiermuth’s comment: “the use of the talent we have.” That may have been a subtle dig at his previous offensive coordinators. It could also be praise for both McCarthy and the Steelers’ front office for bringing in much-needed reinforcements at wide receiver, like WR Michael Pittman Jr.

Yes, more talented players around means more sharing of the ball. However, it also means the defense cannot key in on one or two players. A rising tide lifts all ships situation, if you will. If defenses have to account for WR DK Metcalf and Pittman at the same time, that opens up opportunities for other people.

Like Pat Freiermuth in the middle of the field.