Player: TE Darnell Washington
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: While already on the upturn, Darnell Washington’s opportunities could continue to grow in a depopulated tight end room. Mike McCarthy may have less use for blocking tight ends than Arthur Smith, but there are snaps to distribute. Most likely, whoever the Steelers’ third tight end is this year will play very little on offense. But Jonnu Smith is gone, and he played 536 snaps. That won’t all stay in the tight end room, but a lot of it will.
There is certainly an argument that Darnell Washington could lose more snaps to Pat Freiermuth in Mike McCarthy’s offense. Arthur Smith certainly helped him take his game to another level and gave him ample opportunity to play. But Smith also played Jonnu Smith for over 500 snaps, and neither of them is still here.
That’s 536 snaps the Steelers have to redistribute back into their offense. Even assuming a balance of more snaps from Washington to Freiermuth, that quantity of snaps could easily offset the difference. Now, a lot of those snaps will probably go to wide receivers, but it’s not like McCarthy is going to forget they have tight ends.
Last year, Darnell Washington really came into his own as a more complete tight end, but also established himself as one of the best blocking tight ends in the league. But he also caught 31 passes for 364 yards, and there is still more meat on the bone.
This offseason, the Steelers added Michael Pittman Jr. to upgrade the No. 2 WR role, which is certainly going to affect Washington’s playing time. But his increased usage and effectiveness as a pass-catcher will keep him relevant. Arguably, having Washington in the game makes the Steelers less predictable than with Pat Freiermuth.
And he is a clear matchup challenge, because he is athletic for a man his size. Put a big body on him, and Darnell Washington could outmaneuver him. But if you counter with a smaller, athletic defender, he’ll just run him over. There has been a lot of talk about Washington’s role potentially being reduced without Arthur Smith. I’m not convinced that’s how this thing plays out. The removal of Jonnu Smith alone will create opportunities he didn’t have last year.
With the 2025 season behind us and the new league year underway, we still have stock to take. Already promisinga year of change, they are shaking things up. That is unavoidable, of course, when you gut the coaching staff. Mike Tomlin’s resignation will fundamentally change this football team, including the playoffs on the roster.
After a long season, we have finally seen that this Steelers team is playoff-bound. But they also showed that their progress was actually minimal,since they made it no further. Two years in a row, with two different quarterbacks, they went 10-7 and lost in the Wild Card Round. The only differences are they ended the season on a higher note and won the division. But it didn’t help.
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