Under Aaron Rodgers, Darnell Washington isn’t going to evolve into Travis Kelce. But his passing game impact should be heightened after a quiet finish to the 2024 season. One day after Rodgers heaped plenty of praise on Washington, comparing him to Marcedes Lewis, analyst Chris Mack believes that connection will carry over to when the season starts.
“The OC also loves tight ends,” Mack said on the Kaboly + Mack podcast, referring to Arthur Smith. “[Rodgers] loves Darnell Washington. I can tell already that he can’t wait to use Darnell Washington. And we know that Arthur Smith loves to have multiple tight ends on.”
During a Tuesday interview with The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers praised Washington for his size but also his athletic ability, highlighting a downfield catch he made to close out mandatory minicamp. Skills Washington flashed in the first half of last year against the New York Giants and first matchup versus the Baltimore Ravens before shrinking during the final stretch. Part of that was due to a lack of playing time for a Steelers team finding itself trailing and part of it was due to a lack of play-action that limited some of his core targets.
As Mack noted, Arthur Smith uses tight ends as much as any offensive coordinator in football. That will provide plenty of snaps for Washington and opportunities for Rodgers to find him.
“Aaron Rodgers has shown an ability to work with tight ends in the past. It’s a tight end-driven offense in a lot of different ways,” Mack said. “I hate to jump the gun on June 25th, four weeks before training camp starts, but all signs seem to indicate that Darnell Washington should be making a giant leap forward this year.”
Drawing parallels to Lewis in size, it’s hard to compare production. Lewis didn’t join Green Bay until his age-34 season, a stark difference to the 23-year-old Washington.
Catching 50 passes won’t be Washington’s benchmark but more downfield playmaking and consistent use in the offense will be the goals. He’s still lower in the pecking order of targets in a run-heavy offense. That means capitalizing on the chances he does get, be it down the seam or in the red zone. A stat line of 25 receptions for 275 yards and three touchdowns is something the Steelers should sign up for.
