Ever since the Pittsburgh Steelers made him the 55th pick of this year’s draft, I’ve tried to temper expectations for Pat Freiermuth’s rookie year. I’d argue tight end is the second-hardest position for college guys to make the jump from, only trailing quarterback. To be fair, Freiermuth is more well-rounded and developed than a lot of college tight ends, who rarely put their hand in the ground and haven’t lined up as an in-line “Y” (Freiermuth has done both).
But to really answer that question, we have to look at some history. What do the numbers suggest? That’s what we’ll do with this study.