Bottom Line
UDFA tight end landing in Pittsburgh behind an entrenched Pat Freiermuth and a blocking-specialist Darnell Washington — Metayer's path to fantasy relevance runs through a Washington injury and special teams survival. Ignore in all but the deepest TE-premium dynasty formats.
Team Fit & Opportunity
Pittsburgh runs heavy 12-personnel under Arthur Smith's offensive influence, which theoretically values a third TE — but Freiermuth is locked in as the receiving option and Washington (listed Questionable) owns the in-line blocking role. The 40 vacated targets in this offense funnel to DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman first, Freiermuth second. Metayer's realistic year-one role is TE3, core special teams, with offensive snaps only if Washington misses time. Mason Rudolph under center caps the entire passing-game ceiling.
Talent Profile
Metayer is a 6'4", 255-pound move TE with the frame teams want but a profile that screams developmental project rather than plug-and-play contributor. Arizona State production was modest in a run-heavy Big 12 offense, and the lack of draft capital (UDFA) signals the league saw a TE3/TE4 archetype — adequate size, average athletic testing, limited route tree on tape. The body type plays as an H-back/Y hybrid, but he'll need to prove he can block at the point of attack to even keep a roster spot in a room that already has a 264-pound mauler in Washington.
Strengths
- Frame and catch radius: 6'4"/255 gives him the contested-catch and red-zone target profile NFL staffs covet for jumbo packages.
- Positional versatility: Lined up in-line, in the slot, and as an H-back at ASU — gives Pittsburgh a Swiss Army option if Washington's questionable status becomes a longer absence.
- Age-appropriate development runway: At 22 entering the league, he's not an over-aged prospect propping up a college profile.
Concerns
- UDFA draft capital: No team valued him enough to spend even a 7th — the league-wide consensus is replacement-level.
- Blocked depth chart: Freiermuth and Washington occupy the only two real TE roles; even a strong camp likely lands him on the practice squad.
- Modest college production: Never a focal point of the ASU passing game, which makes projecting an NFL receiving role speculative.
Historical Comp Read
The UDFA-TE-with-size archetype hits at a brutally low rate — for every Foster Moreau or Jordan Akins who carves out a role, there are dozens of camp bodies who never log a target. The closest functional comps are players who took 2-3 years on practice squads before earning TE2 snaps. Frame alone doesn't predict NFL receiving production without the route nuance and contested-catch tape to back it.
Outlook
Year one: practice squad or TE3 with sub-10% offensive snap share, zero standalone fantasy value. Three-year ceiling is a TE2/Y-option role if Freiermuth leaves in free agency and Metayer develops into a competent in-line blocker — think TE25-30 streamer in deep leagues. Floor is out of the league by 2027. The catalyst is a Washington injury opening 12-personnel snaps; the trigger that collapses the floor is failing to make special teams contributions in camp.