The Pittsburgh Steelers currently have three former Georgia players on their roster and all three play on offense. Two of those players are skill position players in WR George Pickens and TE Darnell Washington, who is a rookie. On Wednesday during training camp practice, Washington made a great one-handed catch on air that ultimately became a viral video on the Internet. On Thursday, Pickens was a guest on The Rich Eisen Show and he was asked about that catch and who Washington is as a player.
“He’s a specimen,” Pickens told Eisen. “I played with him in college, so, it’s kind of been some things I’ve already seen. Like that one-hand catch, I’ve seen that a billion times. Kind of like the stuff he’s seen with me. So, yes, he’s gonna be a real help to the team for sure.”
It certainly will be interesting to see what Washington can bring to the Steelers offense as a rookie, especially after how he was used at Georgia, which was mainly as a blocking tight end. Recently, however, Washington did speak to the media during training camp about hoping to get more opportunities as a pass catcher in the NFL. Pickens then gave his two cents to Rich Eisen on why Washington was mainly used as a blocker at Georgia.
“At Georgia, it was just like a block and run, first blocking,” Pickens said. “That was kind of like, that’s what kind of sparked me, my buzz in the beginning, too, was how I block. Because that’s literally what they trained us to do is like block first. And I wasn’t really in like an air raid, as you would say, or a passing offense first. I was in a pro style. So, me and Darnell for sure knew about blocking first.”
Washington being an excellent blocker at Georgia wasn’t too surprising due to his size: 6065, 272-pounds with 34 3/8-inch arms. In his three seasons at Georgia, Washington registered 45 receptions for 774 yards and three touchdowns in 27 games played. Twenty-eight of those receptions for 454 yards and two touchdowns came in his final college season in 2022.
Unfortunately for Washington, Georgia TE Brock Bowers was the highlighted receiving option at tight end during Washington’s college career. Even so, he showed plenty of promise as a pass catcher in the limited targets that he received. That became even more evident at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine as Washington made a few great catches during drills conducted in Indianapolis.
In the Steelers’ preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Friday, Washington had a few nice run blocks as part of the 25 offensive snaps that he played. Additionally, Washington caught one pass for 9 yards in that contest and it was his only target.
Saturday night, the Steelers will play their second preseason game of 2023, a home affair against the Buffalo Bills. It will be interesting to see if Washington receives more work in the passing game in that contest to show more people that he’s not just a blocking specimen, but a catching one as well.
Washington, by the way, is celebrating his 22nd birthday on Thursday.
