Pittsburgh Steelers rookie tight end Darnell Washington has been lauded for his blocking ability. It’s what he majored in at Georgia and for the 2023 NFL Draft, he was regarded as the class’ best blocking tight end. However, in the current NFL many tight ends are valued by the media and fans on how they are in the passing game, not so much on what they can do in the run game.
That doesn’t concern Washington. He he knows how valuable it is for a tight end to be able to block in the NFL. Washington spoke with reporters at OTA’s and 93.7 The Fan‘s Jeff Hathhorn wrote that Washington understands that not being a a capable blocker may mean a tight end will be out of the league quickly.
“The mindset at tight end, we are not just catching balls and scoring touchdowns,” he said via Hatthorn. “We also have to block. If you can’t block you aren’t going to play in the league for a long time.”
Washington will certainly be asked to contribute in the passing game this season. At 6’7” 264 pounds it would be foolish for Pittsburgh to not try and take advantage of his size mismatch. But make no mistake, with Pat Freiermuth as the team’s starter, Washington’s primary role this season will be to block and to open up holes for running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.
It seems Washington will continue to embrace blocking in Pittsburgh, something that will be essential with the type of team the Steelers are building. It seems once again this season the team will rely on the run game and for good reason. The team played its best football of the season last year when it relied on Harris and the running game, and with an improved offensive line the run game projects to be even better this year.
As of now we don’t know how good quarterback Kenny Pickett will be, but it is unlikely in Year Two he will be able to keep up with the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow if a game gets into a shootout. Because of this, the Steelers want to control the time of possession. The best way to do that is by running the ball, but to do that you need everyone to buy-in. Not only is Washington a great blocking tight end, but also he is bought into blocking, something that will go a long way into making the Steelers a tough team to beat this season.
