Player: TE Darnell Washington
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Darnell Washington and his Crash Dummy knees managed to find the end zone yesterday, the first touchdown of his NFL career. The Steelers TE appears to be in for a bigger share of the passing targets in Arthur Smith’s offense, even if it isn’t all that much. Oh, and he continues to advance as a blocker going into his second season, as well. So that’s pretty cool.
Justin Fields to Darnell Washington was Touchdown No. 1 on the season for the Steelers, as we all expected. Granted, it accounted for all of five yards and made up the entirety of his receiving production on the day. But who is going to turn down their first touchdown, regardless of the context?
Through two games, Darnell Washington has two catches on two targets for 10 yards and one touchdown. He is on pace for 17 catches for 85 yards and 8.5 touchdowns, which in one way or another, is not happening.
But we all know Washington’s value isn’t about his receiving numbers, even if that is his latest highlight. The fact is he threw a key block a couple plays before that touchdown, which is his primary role. He has done that job well, on the whole, so far through the first two games of the season. Even if the snap count distribution is interesting at times—for example MyCole Pruitt seeing more snaps.
It is interesting to consider how this offense might evolve in the coming weeks. Does this red-zone touchdown make the Steelers want to throw Darnell Washington’s way more? They went 0-for-2 in the red zone last week, and then they capitalized yesterday. He is a big target, after all, and he showed pretty good hands. He still looks like a lumbering mess, of course, not exactly the most fluid mover. But if he doesn’t have to run far, it doesn’t matter.
As the season progresses, Steelers players’ stocks rise and fall. The nature of the evaluation differs with the time of year, with in-season considerations being more often short-term. Considerations in the offseason often have broader implications, particularly when players lose their jobs, or the team signs someone. This time of year is full of transactions, whether minor or major.
A bad game, a new contract, an injury, a promotion—any number of things affect a player’s value. Think of it as a stock on the market, based on speculation. You’ll feel better about a player after a good game, or worse after a bad one. Some stock updates are minor, while others are likely to be quite drastic, so bear in mind the degree. I’ll do my best to explain the nature of that in the reasoning section of each column.
