Anyone who has booted up Madden or a similar football video game has gone to the create-a-player feature and made a 6-7, 300-pound skill player on offense who has unrealistic speed and agility for their size. The Pittsburgh Steelers just happen to have that guy in real life as Darnell Washington continues to have a heck of an offseason.
Robert Griffin III was impressed with Washington’s preseason touchdown catch last night and called for the Steelers to get him more involved in the passing game this year.
“All 6’7 270 pounds of Darnell Washington running down the seam is a hard thing to stop,” Griffin wrote on X. “He has been having a great training camp, especially coming alive in the red zone. Pittsburgh has to feed the big man more this season.”
There are very few, if any, defensive backs who are able to match his height and physicality and very few linebackers are able to keep up with his speed. And Griffin used Washington’s weight coming into the league. He has easily added 20-30 pounds. He told reporters that he lost about 10 pounds this offseason, but he was over 300 pounds last season, according to TE coach Alfredo Roberts. If I had to guess, he’s just barely under the 300-pound mark now.
The 2023 NFL Scouting Combine medicals reportedly suggested Washington had a knee issue that would limit his receiving abilities and maybe the longevity of his career, but that seems like a non-concern at this point. He can move, and he can jump. And he has been remarkably healthy with zero games missed over his first two seasons.
The Steelers will need to balance how they use him because he is also one of the very best blocking TEs in the league. Even with Pat Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith on the field, I don’t know how you justify keeping Washington on the sidelines.
Through the first nine camp practices, Washington caught 10 of his 11 targets for 91 yards and three touchdowns, per our Alex Kozora. Some reporters have even singled him out as the star of camp with obviously improved movement skills over last year.
I don’t know how the Steelers are going to feed all of their targets in the passing game, but it would be a shame to underutilize a human cheat code like Washington.
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