Heath Miller made a rare post-retirement appearance at Heinz Field last week. Perfect timing, because the Pittsburgh Steelers — at long last — are comfortable that they finally have been able to replace their former Pro Bowl tight end, who retired in February 2016.

Following a couple of swings and misses at getting Miller’s successor in free agency, the Steelers look like they got their guy in Pat Freiermuth when they took him at No. 55 overall during April’s draft.

“That pick,” offensive coordinator Matt Canada said this week, “was a great one for us and great for the organization because he’s making a lot of good plays.

“I’m a big fan of Pat’s. He’s a student of the game. The way he works, his desire to be good, I really like him.”

So does Ben Roethlisberger, the Hall of Fame quarterback who was never shy of his affection for Miller, who provided workmanlike production over 11 seasons with the Steelers. An old friend tipped off Roethlisberger that Freiermuth’s skills were comparable to that of Miller almost as soon as the Steelers drafted him.

Soon thereafter, Roethlisberger requested that Freiermuth’s locker be placed next to his at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.

“I had no idea who Pat was,” Roethlisberger said of receiving a mobile phone alert when the Steelers drafted Freiermuth. “And probably 15, 20, 30 seconds later, I got a text from (former Steelers offensive coordinator and reigning Super Bowl-winning coach Bruce Arians) that said, ‘He’s the closest thing to Heath Miller I’ve ever seen. You’ll love this kid.’

“That was enough for me.”

Pat Freiermuth rises for his second TD of the night! #HereWeGo @pat_fry5

????: #CHIvsPIT on ESPN????: https://t.co/leKnrGxv9H pic.twitter.com/xzBNltJI43

— NFL (@NFL) November 9, 2021

Their off-the-field relationship of respect cemented, the on-field connection between Roethlisberger and Freiermuth has blossomed. Over the past three games heading into Sunday’s home matchup against the Detroit Lions, Freiermuth has 16 catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns.

Each of the three scores was a clinic. The 2-yard touchdown against the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 31 and 10-yard score in the second quarter of last Monday’s home win against the Chicago Bears were examples of so-called “combat catches” in which Freiermuth used savvy and muscle to make a 50/50 ball all his. An earlier touchdown against the Bears displayed Freiermuth’s ability to improvise and get himself open as a play develops.

TD 1️⃣: Najee HarrisTD 2️⃣: Pat Freiermuth

This rookie class ????pic.twitter.com/ZTstBiFRcr

— PFF PIT Steelers (@PFF_Steelers) November 9, 2021

“He’s doing what we’ve all seen him do throughout the process,” coach Mike Tomlin said, “and that’s catch the football. He makes combat catches. He makes the tough catch seem somewhat routine. His hand-eye (coordination) and body control are exceptional for a bigger-bodied guy.

“He’s still young and growing in a lot of ways on and off the field, week in and week out, but he’s got an awesome base and a nice skillset to build upon.”

Freiermuth’s two-touchdown game was the first by a Steelers rookie tight end since Miller in 2005. His four touchdowns through eight games this season are more than the rest of the 2021 rookie tight end class (three). That group includes Kyle Pitts, who was the No. 4 overall pick of the Atlanta Falcons and was considered a can’t-miss, plug-and-play receiving star.

Halfway through the season, Freiermuth has rated better than Pitts via Pro Football Focus’ grades and footballoutsiders.com’s advanced all-emcompassing metrics. Even counting the veterans, Freiermuth is the NFL’s No. 4 tight end per PFF and No. 5 by Football Outsiders.

“He’s doing a tremendous job,” Canada said. “You look at what he’s done coming in here as a rookie and the plays he’s making. … The trust and the connection he and Ben have got to so quickly, which takes time. That’s not minimizing, like, ‘Oh, it just happened.’ Both of those guys have worked really hard to get that to happen, so I give them both a lot of credit for that.”

It shows on the field in that Roethlisberger wouldn’t have felt so free to throw the two “combat-catch” touchdown passes to Freiermuth if he hadn’t yet established an expectation and faith that the rookie would win the battle for the ball.

Said Roethlisberger, who won’t play Sunday because he was put in the reserve/covid list: “He just keeps proving that he can be trusted with pretty much anything.”

And Freiermuth seems most trustworthy in the end zone. Freiermuth has four touchdowns over his past six games, and, dating to his time at Penn State, has 21 touchdown receptions over his past 35 games.

“Whenever you go in the red zone,” Freiermuth said in explaining his scoring mindset, “you want to score. That’s the goal.

“I am just getting more opportunities and making the most of it.”

Steelers OC Matt Canada on Pat Freiermuth: “The decision to make that (draft) pick was a great one for us. I really like him.” pic.twitter.com/dtvZgdPS9p

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) November 11, 2021

Freiermuth has gotten equal plaudits for his blocking. There have been several high-profile, open-field blocks in the running game that have earned Freiermuth the respect of his teammates. And even if Freiermuth openly opines that he’d like to improve while blocking in-line, PFF has him graded as the second-best pass-blocking tight end in the NFL.

“I don’t know if his ability is a surprise,” Canada said, “(but) I think how quickly he’s getting it done at this level against this competition is a credit to him.

“A credit to him and Ben getting going (in the receiving game) and to he and (Steelers tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts) for the blocking, all of it.

“It starts with him. He’s the one doing it. And I think it’s his work ethic and his desire that’s a big, big deal.”

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