Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season is getting underway after the team finished above .500 but failing to make the postseason last year, we turn our attention to the next chapter of Steelers football and everything that entails. One thing that it means is that some stock evaluations are going to start taking on more specific contexts as we get into the season, reflecting more immediate plusses and minus rather than trends over long periods. The nature of the evaluation, whether short-term or long-term, will be noted in the reasoning section below.
Player: TE Darnell Washington
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: The rookie tight end had one of his better games of the season on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, helping the offense to run for over 150 yards while allowing QB Kenny Pickett to throw for 278. His blocking continues to come along, and he even caught a pass for 10 yards.
One thing the league prefers not to do if it can be avoided is to steer clear of one-on-one offsetting penalties. If two players neutralize each other in some way with illegal blocks or holds, the officials will often let them go rather than flag both for offsetting penalties that require a replay of the down.
That may be what spared Darnell Washington from being penalized for a hold on the Steelers’ lone touchdown this past Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. He was the lead blocker on RB Najee Harris’ go-ahead five-yard run late in the third quarter. Tied up with LB Germaine Pratt, he had a clear hold of the jersey, but the linebacker was fighting him, and did not protest after the fact, even when the officials did throw a flag but opted to pick it up.
That was just one of 37 snaps for Washington, however, as his blocking has been increasingly emphasized in recent weeks with the Steelers running for 150-plus yards in four consecutive games. After all, that is what they drafted him for.
Not that they won’t occasionally chuck the ball his way. Indeed, he is now on a streak of four games in which he has been targeted after going without a target in five of the first seven games. He’s been thrown to exactly four times in that span, one per game, with four receptions for 31 yards. The rookie had a 10-yard grab on Sunday.
His 37 snaps played against the Bengals is significant because it also coincided with the fuller return of Pat Freiermuth, who was held back a bit more last week in his first game returning from a hamstring injury.
Significant as well because it incorporated 11 snaps run out of 13 personnel, which is to say three tight ends on the field. The offense was productive when using this grouping, so we can anticipate that they will continue to utilize it and expand upon it. And that means more Washington. More pancakes and seven-yard catches.
