Will Darnell Washington’s first touchdown encourage the Steelers to use him more in the red zone?
The Pittsburgh Steelers have precisely one touchdown so far this season and it belongs to Darnell Washington. As a rookie in 2023, the tight end only drew 10 targets, catching seven for 61 yards. The landscape hasn’t exactly shifted dramatically a year later, but could it?
Steelers QB Justin Fields isn’t throwing the ball too much, but even still, Washington has all of two targets. He has caught both of them, for a whopping 10 yards, but that includes a nifty five-yard touchdown on Sunday.
Facing 3rd and goal from the 5, Washington lined up outside and drove the defender into the end zone before breaking back to the right. In doing so, he ensured that Fields could put the ball where only he could catch it. And he showed some good hands and body control when he did it.
So, what does that mean, exactly? Considering the Steelers are one-for-four in the red zone this season and the only one they converted was the Darnell Washington touchdown, one might wonder. That doesn’t mean he is going to transform into a touchdown machine, but they can still use him. Sunday’s game served as a sort of proof of concept, showing that he can make these plays.
The fact that the Steelers don’t have a high-volume passing game doesn’t bode well for anybody’s individual target share, let alone Washington. They certainly could be using Pat Freiermuth more, which is a topic unto itself. Obviously, they are trying to use George Pickens, and the officials took a touchdown away from him, I should note.
But if Darnell Washington can convert five or six red-zone trips into seven points, that wouldn’t be so bad. He might not catch 80 balls a year, but he should be able to work the short area of the field. One might wonder, though, if Justin Fields is the quarterback best able to exploit him. Would we see a healthier and more diverse passing game with Russell Wilson under center? I suppose that is a moot point, for now.
The Steelers’ 2024 season is underway, following another disappointing year ending in a first-round playoff loss. They have had a long offseason since the Buffalo Bills stamped them out of their misery back in January. There are positive signs, but things could jump off the rails any moment.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Will Russell Wilson regain his job when he is healthy, or is Justin Fields stealing it? How will the team continue to address the depth chart, which is surprisingly still in flux?
The regular season is here, following weeks of camp and preseason games. The Steelers made numerous moves through signings and trade—and release. More than usual, they seemed comfortable creating holes, confident they can fill them. Some they managed to fill, others not so much. Now that we have so many pieces of the puzzle, however, we merely have a new set of questions to ask.
