When the Pittsburgh Steelers added tight end Darnell Washington in the 2022 NFL draft, the excitement in and around the Steelers was palpable. Head coach Mike Tomlin raved about his new “throwback” tight end. Tomlin wasn’t the only one excited about adding Washington to a tight end depth chart led by Pat Freiermuth. Analyst Emory Hunt joined former NFL player Ross Tucker on Tucker’s College Draft Podcast and expressed his feelings about the draft pick.
“You have two really good tight ends, Freiermuth and Washington,” Hunt said. “I’m excited about the tight end position this year for Pittsburgh. I think it’s a good pick for them. He’s going to grow as a receiver, and this is someone that already has the blocking down to a science. It’s going to be fun to watch.”
There’s no question that Freiermuth has already established himself as one of the top pass-catching options on the Steelers. He had a great rookie season with 60 receptions for 497 yards and seven touchdowns. Then he stepped it up in his second year with 63 receptions for 732 yards for 11.6 yards per reception. He had nine receptions for 20 or more yards and one that covered 57 yards, 33 more yards than his longest reception as a rookie.
He may have only had two touchdown receptions, partially thanks to having two different quarterbacks starting during the season and one of them being a rookie, but otherwise, he improved in every category as a receiver.
Then you add a mauler in the form of Washington, and you have the ability to affect all facets of the game with the Steelers’ top two tight ends. Hunt discussed how polished a blocker Washington is coming out of college (“washed guys from defensive end out to boundary corner with how well he is able to down block,”) while acknowledging that he needs to develop as a receiver. He only had 45 total receptions in his three-year college career (averaging 17.2 yards per catch) and three touchdowns. However, Freiermuth has already said that Washington is impressing him including as a receiver.
While training camp will make the picture much clearer for Washington’s development, there’s definitely a lot to like about what the tight end position is going to look like for the Steelers, and Hunt is among those who can’t wait to see how they play this year.
Catch Hunt and Tucker’s whole discussion about the AFC North’s draft classes below.
