What Penn State Football’s Pat Freiermuth takes from NFL’s top tight ends

Penn State Football’s Pat Freiermuth has integrated some of the best traits of the NFL’s top tight ends into his game

Penn State Football’s Pat Freiermuth will likely be the second tight end chosen in the 2021 NFL Draft later this month, and might be the third Nittany Lion to hear his name called by an NFL team in Round 1.

Freiermuth, who was one of Penn State Football’s most dominant weapons in the vertical passing game in his two-plus seasons in Happy Valley, recently opened up about the top NFL tight ends that he’s watched, and what he’s borrowed from each.

"“Watching NFL greats like Gronkowski, [George] Kittle, and [Travis] Kelce,” Feiermuth said recently. “And, I’ve watched Tyler Effect … Because I’ve been compared to him a little bit by NFL teams … I’m watching them and just seeing how to take what they can do well and incorporate it into my game.”"

Freiermuth has the potential to be a dynamic weapon in the passing game at the NFL level, after catching 92 passes for 1,185 yards with 16 touchdowns, while averaging 12.9 yards per reception and not dropping a single red-zone target.

Sports Info Solutions credits Freiermuth with catching 91 percent of catchable passes and 93% of on-target catches in his 143 targets across 30 games as a starter, prior to suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in 2020.

Freiermuth is projected to be a late-first or early second-round NFL Draft choice, potentially joining Micah Parsons and Jayson Oweh as Nittany Lions who could hear their name called in Round 1 later this month.