The top 10 tight ends in Pittsburgh Steelers history

Still, Curtain ranks among the top tight ends in team history.

Tight ends have been one of the NFL’s most undervalued position groups. These players have a variety of tasks, including catching, running routes, blocking, and lining up in different formations. The Pittsburgh Steelers have had numerous outstanding tight ends over the years who fans will not soon forget.

Throughout their history, the Steelers have relied heavily on the tight end as a key component of their attack. Unsurprisingly, this always occurred when they had a valuable asset in the job.

These ten tight ends have made a name for themselves and outperformed the rest of the positional group in Steelers history. The top of the list includes Pro Bowl players as well as a fan favorite.

Criteria for selection

Ranking the Steelers’ tight ends was not an easy process. The role of the position has shifted dramatically over time. These rankings took statistics into account, and several of these tight ends were heavily involved in the passing game. At the same time, there have been plenty of tight ends in Steelers history who were noted for their blocking ability but did not produce high numbers on the stat sheet.

Because some strengths cannot be measured, I included each tight end’s blocking ability in my rating criteria. In addition, I examined leadership traits and impact, clutch performances, and intangibles.

Longevity and consistency were also considered, as players who stayed with the squad for a longer period of time had a better chance of making an influence.

When I created my rankings, I considered significant moments as well as personal accolades. I also looked at a player’s impact on the squad and how he helped the offense.

The top 10 tight ends in Pittsburgh Steelers history

10. Vance McDonald

 

Despite spending four seasons in Pittsburgh, Vance McDonald was primarily a one-year wonder. However, his season in 2018 was so impressive that it’s difficult to leave him off our list. In 15 games that season, McDonald caught 50 passes on 72 targets for 610 yards and four touchdowns (8.5 yards per target).

McDonald will be remembered for his posterizing stiff arm against Chris Conte, which culminated in a 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown. McDonald had a strong 6’4”, 267-pound build and 4.69 speed, which allowed him to handle opponents at the point of attack and make plays after the catch in the receiving game.

Unfortunately, McDonald suffered from injuries throughout his NFL career. Between his first four seasons with the 49ers and his final four seasons with the Steelers, McDonald never started or finished a full season. McDonald’s career was finished by the age of 30, but he was an effective tight end for the Steelers despite his numerous injuries throughout the years.

9. Jerame Tuman

The trickiest part about ranking tight ends is that they play so many diverse positions. Unlike many of the tight ends on this list, Jerame Tuman was a strong run blocker who paved the way for Jerome Bettis, Kordell Stewart, and eventually Willie Parker in the early to mid 2000s.

Despite nine seasons in Pittsburgh, Tuman only had 100 receiving yards once (2003). Though he wasn’t a focal piece of the passing game, the 6’4”, 253-pound tight end helped the Steelers mount some of the league’s finest rushing attacks with his hard labor on the ground.

Tuman was never named to the Pro Bowl due to his lack of output, but he did play 120 games at tight end for the Steelers before joining the Cardinals for the final season of his decade-long NFL career.

8. Pat Freiermuth

Pat Freiermuth is the first tight end in NFL history to have at least 60 receptions in each of his first two seasons. The 2021 second-round choice from Penn State had a strong start to his career, but concussions and soft tissue problems forced him to leave the game on several occasions.

Freiermuth, who stands 6’5” and weighs 258 pounds, resembles a classic tight end but is a better pass catcher than run blocker. While he has average athletic abilities, his smooth moves, soft hands, and ability to reel in the football in traffic make him a potential safety valve for the quarterback.

Freiermuth is still writing his own story, and he will have an opportunity to advance further up this list.

7. Preston Carpenter

Few Steelers fans now will recall Preston Carpenter’s four-year stay with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the middle of his 12-year career. Carpenter, who was selected 13th overall by the Browns in 1956, spent four years in Cleveland before moving to Pittsburgh.

In his first season with the Steelers in 1960, the excellent tight end racked up 495 yards and two touchdowns on an amazing 17.1 yards per reception across 12 games. Two years later, Carpenter outperformed himself with 492 yards and four touchdowns, earning Pro Bowl honors.

Despite spending his final four seasons in Washington, Carpenter managed to record 115 catches, 1,680 receiving yards, and 11 touchdowns while in Pittsburgh. With the Steelers, he averaged 14.6 yards per reception, one of the highest figures we’ve seen from a tight end in franchise history.

6. Randy Grossman

Randy Grossman, who stands 6’1” and weighs 218 pounds, would have been an H-back or wide receiver in today’s NFL. Grossman joined the Steelers as an undrafted free agent following Pittsburgh’s memorable 1974 draft, which included a number of Hall of Fame players. Despite his undrafted status and the fact that the Steelers only selected 21 players in the 1974 draft, Grossman played in all 14 games as a rookie.

Grossman joined the team at the appropriate time, and he went on to win four Super Bowl rings during his eight-year NFL career in Pittsburgh. Grossman, despite never being a main feature of the offense, had over 130 receiving yards in six of his eight seasons with the organization.

The tight end’s greatest season came in 1978, when he had 448 receiving yards and a touchdown. Grossman concluded his career with 1,514 yards in 118 games for the Steelers.

5. Larry Brown

 

Larry Brown was most remembered for his tenure as the Steelers’ right tackle in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He formerly played tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers for six seasons. When he entered the league as a fifth-round choice in 1971, he was 6’4” and 246 pounds, which was unusual for a tight end. However, he was primarily employed as an additional offensive lineman.

Brown started only one game in his first three seasons, although he saw action in 36 games, mostly as an extra blocker. Brown became the Steelers’ full-time starting tight end in his fourth season.

The bully blocker did not transition to offensive tackle until his seventh season in the NFL. Brown only had 48 catches and 636 yards in his career, but he was a rock-solid player who successfully transitioned positions and became a Pro Bowl offensive tackle late in his career.

4. Mark Bruener

The Steelers seldom invest first-round draft capital on tight ends, but when they do, it usually pays off. Pittsburgh traded the 27th overall pick to Washington for Mark Bruener. Unfortunately, head coach Bill Cowher didn’t get the complete package, and Bruener wasn’t much of a receiver.

Ironically, Bruener’s most productive season of his 14-year NFL career came as a rookie, when he caught 26 receptions on 48 targets for 238 yards and three touchdowns. This was his only season in which he went over 200 yards. However, that is not what made him a good tight end.

With his 260-pound physique and hardnosed football mentality, Bruener was the most dependable blocker around. For nine years, the muscular tight end worked in line as a blocker. Bruener’s 4.9 yards per target and 55.7 catch percentage during his Steelers career are deplorable, but his blocking ability was so good for nearly a decade that he deserves to be placed so high among Pittsburgh’s all-time tight ends.

3. Bennie Cunningham

Bennie Cunningham had pretty about everything you could desire at the position. He had a 6’5”, 254-pound build when there weren’t many large tight ends in the NFL, and he moved like a wide receiver. This allowed him to carve out a significant portion of the offense by his second NFL season in 1977.

Cunningham was Pittsburgh’s first-round selection (28th overall) in the 1976 NFL Draft, and the Clemson product did not disappoint. From 1977 to 1983, Cunningham averaged more than 385 receiving yards per season and scored 18 touchdowns.

Cunningham was selected shortly after the Steelers’ back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1974 and 1975, but he still helped his team win two Super Bowls in 1978 and 1979. During his 10-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he started 80 of 118 games.

2. Eric Green

Eric Green had no business being able to maneuver as he did given his size. Green, who stood 6’5” and weighed 280 pounds, was a well-rounded tight end. Green had 387 receiving yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games after the Steelers selected him with the 21st overall choice in 1990.

Green’s career took off in year two (1991), when he picked up 582 yards and 6 touchdowns on 14.2 yards per reception in just 11 games. Green established himself as one of the game’s top tight ends in the mid-1990s, with 63 receptions for 942 yards and five touchdowns in 1993.

The jaw-dropping tight end won Pro Bowl accolades in consecutive seasons before departing the Steelers for the Miami Dolphins in the 1995 offseason. He went on to play for three more teams over the next five years. Green had 198 receptions for 2,681 yards and 24 touchdowns in five seasons with the Steelers.

1. Heath Miller

Heath Miller’s tight ends are unusually well-rounded. Most of the time, clubs look for a great receiving or blocking tight end. Miller was the perfect blend of the two.

Miller’s strong build, standing 6’5” and weighing 256 pounds, allowed him to impose his will as an in-line blocker. At the same time, he was Ben Roethlisberger’s safety valve in the passing game for more than ten years. The astute tight end hit the ground running and looked like a veteran during his debut season in 2005, when he accumulated 459 yards and six touchdowns.

Miller was a chain-mover for the Steelers’ offense, frequently coming up clutch in the center of the field on third downs. He could withstand contact and hold on to the football as well as any tight end in the league.

By the end of his 11-year career in Pittsburgh, Miller had broken every tight end receiving record and helped his team win two Lombardi trophies. With 592 receptions, 6,569 receiving yards, and 45 career touchdowns, it could be a long time before a Steelers tight end surpasses these stats.

The ten finest tight ends in Pittsburgh Steelers history, according to receiving yards

Rank	Player	Years With Team	Receiving Yards
1	Heath Miller	2005-2015	6,569
2	Bennie Cunningham	1976-1985	2,879
3	Eric Green	1990-1994	2,681
4	Preston Carpenter	1960-1963	1,680
5	Pat Freiermuth	2021-present	1,537
6	Randy Grossman	1974-1981	1,514
7	John Hilton	1965-1969	1,494
8	Mark Bruener	1995-2003	1,197
9	Jesse James	2015-2018	1,189
10	Vance McDonald	2017-2020	1,170