One of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ picks in the 2023 draft may have been a short-term investment.
At just 22 years old and having been selected in the third round, it would seem Darnell Washington has a lot of football ahead of him.
That might not be the case.
Before he was drafted, there were concerns about Washington’s knees.
Those concerns weren’t enough to deter the Steelers from drafting him.
During a chat on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s website, Ray Fittipaldo revealed that he thinks the Steelers must have known Washington’s career could be cut short by his knees and made the decision to pick him thinking they’d get four years out of him.
“That’s why he fell to the third round, so I’m sure they knew. One of those deals where you kind of figure you got him for four years and that’s it.”
Washington’s Draft Profile
Washington didn’t post huge numbers during his time Georgia. As a freshman, he only made 7 catches for 166 yards.
Those numbers didn’t come up much in his sophomore year. In his second year as a Bulldog, Washington made 10 catches for 154 yards.
His numbers got a big boost in his junior year despite being Georgia’s TE2 behind Brock Bowers. In his third year with the Bulldogs, Washington made 28 catches for 454 yards.
He still didn’t have the most impressive production profile in a draft class that included Dalton Kincaid (890 yards in his junior year), Michael Mayer (809 yards as a junior), and Sam Laporta (over 650 yards in both his junior and senior seasons), but he was a highly regarded prospect in the class.
That was because of his size, strength, and athleticism. Washington is a massive tight end at 6’7″ and 264 pounds.
At the Combine, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.64 seconds and did 21 bench press reps to show off an impressive combination of strength and speed.
Given his size, that 40 time gave him a speed score in the 96th percentile, according to Player Profiler.
That made him an interesting prospect, but he surprisingly fell down draft boards, giving the Steelers the opportunity to take him on day two of the draft.
Ending Up With the Steelers
Washington’s draft stock was high for much of last year’s pre-draft process.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein projected him as a first round pick.
Bleacher Report’s NFL Scouting Department had him as their TE2 in a loaded class at the position.
Then his stock plummeted because of the knee concerns.
That gave the Steelers the chance to grab him well after when he was projected to be drafted, taking him with the 93rd overall pick.
In his first year with the Steelers, he once again wasn’t all that productive. He only made 7 catches for 61 yards. However, he did show some promise as a blocker.
PFF gave him a grade of 72.3 as a pass blocker.
On a team where he is once again paired with a more talented pass catcher, that may be how he makes his biggest contribution in Pittsburgh.
Pat Freiermuth probably isn’t going anywhere as the team’s starting tight end. He had 732 receiving yards in his second year in the league back in 2022 and has expressed his desire to finish his career in Pittsburgh.
That could leave blocking as Washington’s main role for a while and the Steelers will be hoping he does it well past the end of his rookie contract.
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Steelers Reporter On Recent Draft Pick: ‘Kind of Figure You Got Him for 4 Years’