Pittsburgh Steelers TE Darnell Washington has certainly seen more opportunities during his second year in the NFL. Steelers quarterbacks targeted him 23 times during the regular season versus only 10 targets during his rookie season. And he’s caught 19 passes for 200 yards, an average of 10.5 yards per catch. That’s almost two full yards per catch better than his rookie season.
Oh, and Washington caught his first NFL touchdown in 2024, a five-yard reception against the Denver Broncos back in Week 2. He’s shown his ability to be a good receiving option this season. That’s on top of his prowess as a blocking tight end.
The Steelers attempted to get Washington his second touchdown last Saturday versus the Cincinnati Bengals. QB Russell Wilson targeted him in the end zone from six yards out, but the ball fell incomplete. That wasn’t Washington’s fault, though. Bengals’ CB Cam Taylor-Britt interfered with Washington, causing the incompletion. Could we see more of Washington in the playoffs to help boost the Steelers’ red-zone efforts?
“We had some awesome days in Latrobe pinning him against a variety of defenders in those circumstances,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin during Friday’s episode of the Mike Tomlin Show. “He has a unique body, a unique skill set, and we are interested in utilizing it. We have in the past, and certainly, as you get into the single elimination tournament, certainly we’re gonna use it.”
The Steelers have struggled in the red zone in 2024. Steelers Depot’s Clayton Eckert took a look at the Steelers’ red zone stats after Christmas Day’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. And boy is it an ugly picture. They have struggled to score once they’ve gotten into the red zone. But they’ve also struggled at points to get into the red zone. In fact, during the four-game losing streak to end the season, the Steelers only got into the red zone twice in three out of the four games.
Now, they were able to score on both of their red-zone trips against the Bengals last Saturday. And they did that against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 16 as well. But it’s evident that the Steelers need to both extend drives and then finish them. And perhaps Washington can be a factor in finishing those drives.
But for some reason, Washington has not been a big part of the offense in recent weeks. In fact, he’s only been targeted two times or more in six games this season. And during this losing streak, he’s only been officially targeted once (the pass interference penalty wiped out the target during the Bengals’ game). He did catch that lone target against the Chiefs for eight yards.
And one of those games where Darnell Washington was targeted multiple times was the first matchup against the Ravens. Wilson targeted him three times and he had two catches for 42 yards. So perhaps Washington could be a bigger factor on Saturday than he has been recently. It sounds like Mike Tomlin is on board with that.
