Jonnu Smith had the best year of his career in 2024, finishing with personal bests in catches and receiving yards. It wasn’t enough to convince the Dolphins moving forward, however, as he was sent to Pittsburgh as a part of the Jalen Ramsey, Minkah Fitzpatrick trade.
As a result of his great season, Smith was the fourth-best tight end in DraftKings fantasy scoring in 2024 with 229.3 FPTS. His 13.5 FPTS per game was also elite, tied for fourth most among tight ends. He finished the season with 88 catches, 884 yards and eight touchdowns while playing in all 17 games. Not bad.
The move to Pittsburgh is a questionable one for both sides. Not only did the Dolphins lose one of their best passing options, but Smith now joins a tight end room in Pittsburgh that already includes Pat Freiermuth. There are a ton of new faces in this Steelers offense between Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jonnu Smith and rookie running back Kaleb Johnson. How all these pieces mesh together remains to be seen. Will Jonnu Smith be the TE1, TE2, or will Pittsburgh run out of a two-tight-end set the majority of the time? All of these questions will remain unanswered until Week 1, but Smith joining a tight end room with another big name is a big hit to his fantasy football value in 2025.
Smith is coming off a season in which he was the unquestioned TE1, finishing with 92 more targets than any other Dolphins tight end. Freiermuth is also used to being the alpha in the tight end room, receiving 53 more targets in 2024 than any other Steelers tight end. Unless Pittsburgh is planning to use a ton of 12 personnel formations this season, both tight ends will suffer a hit to their fantasy football outlook.
