While Darnell Washington has dropped weight and gained agility, he told reporters yesterday that he isn’t quite done just yet. While he is a tight end, the Steelers have primarily used him as a blocker, almost an extra lineman. Entering his third season, he wants to change that, envisioning a bigger role in the passing game.
More than that, though, it’s just a young player growing up and recognizing his job is a profession. Washington said the coaches didn’t tell him to improve his conditioning this offseason, doing it on his own. “My first two years, I wasn’t really taking care of my body”, he said, via the Steelers’ website. “I would just come in, do the work, leave. So now I’m like, I want to stick around the facility, do a little bit more with the quarterback after practice, or do some recovery more. Pretty much just take care of my body in the long run”.
This is a very common pattern for players at this stage of their careers, going into their third season. Not only do they have a couple laps around the track, they also see the bigger picture. Washington acknowledged that everybody, including himself, wants another contract. We are also seeing a greater level of professionalism from another third-year man, Broderick Jones.
Asked where he has made the biggest changes, Darnell Washington pointed to the obvious of his weight. He said he has eaten cleaner, among other things. “Just overall, the breaking down, the dropping the weight, everything like that”, he added.
“I feel like, I’m not where I want to be, but slowly but surely I feel like I will, towards camp. I’m gonna just keep building upon staying consistent to my schedule”. I should specify that Washington only said camp. I took him to mean training camp, which seems more reasonable than minicamp. The Steelers open minicamp next week, so that’s a very condensed time period.
Even with Darnell Washington dropping, as he claims, 10 to 15 pounds, he is still a very large man. And he still has a good amount of weight he can afford to lose, if he chooses. At one point last season, his position coach let slip that he weighed over 300 pounds.
Washington entered the league with medical red flags, many teams concerned about his long-term durability. That was principally due to his knees, but that likely also tied with his weight. If he is taking better care of himself, he can potentially significantly prolong his career. Or at least give himself a fighting chance to play for as long as possible.
