The Pittsburgh Steelers scored their first touchdown this season courtesy of TE Darnell Washington last Sunday. The second-year man has just two catches on the year, but he is the only skill player with points. Chris Boswell, their kicker, holds the rest—but QB Russell Wilson expects that to change soon. And he expects Washington to be a part of that.
“Obviously, Darnell making his first touchdown, the salute for his brother and everything else, that was cool to see, man”, Wilson said yesterday, via the Steelers’ website. “I was telling Darnell he’s got a lot more coming his way in terms of touchdowns”.
Although Wilson is not starting, current starter Justin Fields is already on record on the same subject. Shortly after last Sunday’s game, he said he thinks offensive coordinator Arthur Smith will want to call more passes to Washington.
The Steelers don’t have the most prolific passing game this season, leaning heavily on the run so far. Through two games, only two players have more than five targets, WR George Pickens and TE Pat Freiermuth. While Freiermuth has eight catches, the rest of the tight ends have three on the year. Washington has two of them, including the touchdown, albeit for just 10 yards.
The Steelers used a third-round pick on Darnell Washington last year. While they valued his blocking foremost, they refused to walk away from his upside as a receiver. Still, they never made much use of him in that area as a rookie. They are not doing so much this year, either, and until proven otherwise, the red-zone target is an outlier.
But even Washington seems to feel that it could mark some sort of turning point. Asked about the significance of his touchdown, he said, “What it did for me was just opening up my route tree, the playbook a little bit more. Just showcasing that little bit of ability that I did”.
We have nothing to base that on from the outside, and even Darnell Washington only has two practices from which to judge. He did say that they repped the touchdown play in practice last week and it didn’t work until the game.
Even if he isn’t a prolific receiving threat, Washington is still a big, physical target. The Los Angeles Chargers recognize that he is a player they have to account for. Realistically, of course, they’ll have to account for him more as a blocker, including in pass protection. Having billed himself as a sixth lineman, he has made good on that, the Steelers even using him one-on-one to block edge defenders.
It’s still early, but Darnell Washington is starting to blossom in his second season. He is continuing to improve as a blocker, using better balance. And if he continues to expand into a bigger receiving threat, then I’m certainly all for it. There’s no reason he can’t body people in the end zone and catch five-yard passes, really.
