Entering his second NFL season after a relatively quiet rookie season, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington finds himself in a TE-friendly offensive scheme under coordinator Arthur Smith.
In his first game in Smith’s offense, Washington didn’t make any noise as a pass catcher in the Steelers’ 20-12 preseason loss to the Houston Texans. But he made his impact felt as a blocker.
Washington was the highest-graded Steelers player on the night, coming in at a 91.7 overall. Not only was he the highest-graded player for the Steelers, he finished Week 1 of the preseason as the highest-graded tight end in the league.
Washington’s 91.7 overall edged out Seattle’s Brady Russell (88.3), Indianapolis’s Mo Alie-Cox (87.8), Carolina’s Jordan Matthews (87.4) and Washington’s Ben Sinnott (87.2) in the top five to grab the No. 1 spot.
The hulking Washington had an 85.2 grade as a run blocker and a 76.4 as a pass blocker in the loss to the Texans. He played quite well overall in his 18 snaps, 17 of which were blocking snaps, including 12 run-blocking snaps and five pass-blocking snaps.
As a run blocker, Washington’s 85.2 was the best in the league in Week 1 of the preseason, just ahead of Jacksonville’s Brenton Strange (82.6). His pass blocking grade of 76.4 tied him with teammate MyCole Pruitt for the best pass-blocking grade among tight ends.
Neither Pruitt nor Washington allowed a pressure as pass blockers.
While he wasn’t much of an option in the passing game as a rookie, seeing just 10 total targets, Washington was a key blocker for the Steelers last season. The Georgia product made an impact in 12 and 13 personnel, especially late in the season in the run game as the Steelers took off.
He was stout in pass protection, too, allowing just one pressure on 185 pass-blocking reps as a rookie.
The hope is Washington sees more work as a pass-catching option in Year 2 with Smith in the fold. At the very least he’s going to be a key blocker for the Steelers, serving as that extra lineman.
He showed that against the Texans, landing a successful block when the Steelers ran Crunch, springing Jaylen Warren to the second level.
That’s good footwork there from Washington to block down and trap the defensive lineman trying to get upfield. Creating a large hole for Warren, he springs the running back for a nice gain as the offense gained some rhythm.
Later in one of his final snaps against the Texans, Washington combined with Pruitt to hook defensive end Jerry Hughes, allowing running back Jonathan Ward to get around the corner in the red zone.
It was a strong showing for Washington. He once again made an impact as a blocker, especially in the run game, leading to some nice runs for the Steelers on the night.
That is to be expected from Washington at this point. He’s a solid blocker overall, which was a strength of his coming out of college. It would be nice to see him take a step forward as a receiving option though, especially in Smith’s offense.
