If you made a playlist to describe the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2020 offense, Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot” would be the first track on it. And then put that thing on repeat. That’s the playlist.
I digress. Which is exactly what the Steelers seem to be doing from Eric Ebron. Every sign from the past few months has trended down for the tight end and his odds of going over BetMGM’s line of 475.5 receiving yards are about as long as Pharrell’s hat.
Clear eyes, bad hands, can’t block
Ebron has exceeded the league average drop rate of 6.8% in each of his last three seasons. His 40 drops since 2014 are more than any other tight end and he’s one of PFF’s worst-graded blockers at the position.
In a December 7th tilt against Washington last year, Ebron was one of three Steelers who caught a case of the dropsies. After the game, head coach Mike Tomlin threatened to replace players who couldn’t catch the football. Luckily for Ebron, there wasn’t much depth behind him to take his job.
Enter Pat Freiermuth. The Steelers selected the Penn State tight end with the 55th pick in this year’s draft, spending the most draft capital on that position since 2005 when they took Heath Miller with the 30th pick. Freiermuth never dropped a red zone pass in three years with the Nittany Lions and after he showed out with two touchdowns in the Steelers’ preseason game against Detroit, Heath Miller is exactly who quarterback Ben Roethlisberger compared him to when asked about the tight end.
Freiermuth is an excellent pass-catcher and blocker and that’s a problem for Ebron. When the team released their first official depth chart yesterday, the two were listed as co-starters. The rookie tight end’s star is rising at Ebron’s expense. I’m taking under 475.5 receiving yards for Ebron.
Stats provided by PFF and pro football reference