It was a great draft for tight ends, with nine selected in the first three rounds for the first time ever. The Steelers took Georgia's Darnell Washington in the third, and while a different roster would have been nice, there's some exciting potential anyway.
Washington is huge (6-7, 264) but it's fair to say he moves really well for his size (or any size). He had the 3rd-best 20-yard shuttle time of anyone at the combine, particularly impressive at a size that doesn't seem to lend itself to agility. It's athleticism that shows up on field in games.
Washington's 28 catches last year went for 454 yards yards; that's 16.2 yards per catch. Comparing that production to NFL tight ends, that's more than 2 yards better than anyone (minimum 20 receptions) last season.
| TIGHT ENDS, YARDS PER CATCH (2022) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Darnell Washington, Georgia | 28 | 454 | 16.2 | 2 |
| Chigoziem Okonkwo, Ten. | 32 | 450 | 14.1 | 3 |
| Darren Waller, L.V. | 28 | 388 | 13.9 | 3 |
| Jordan Akins, Hou. | 37 | 495 | 13.4 | 5 |
| Colby Parkinson, Sea. | 25 | 322 | 12.9 | 2 |
| Dallas Goedert, Phil. | 55 | 702 | 12.8 | 3 |
| George Kittle, S.F. | 60 | 765 | 12.8 | 11 |
| Foster Moreau, L.V. | 33 | 420 | 12.7 | 2 |
| Kyle Pitts, Atl. | 28 | 356 | 12.7 | 2 |
| Jelani Woods, Ind. | 25 | 312 | 12.5 | 3 |
| Greg Dulcich, Den. | 33 | 411 | 12.5 | 2 |
| Hunter Henry, N.E. | 41 | 509 | 12.4 | 2 |
| Travis Kelce, K.C. | 110 | 1338 | 12.2 | 12 |
| Juwan Johnson, N.O. | 42 | 508 | 12.1 | 7 |
| Pat Freiermuth, Pitt. | 63 | 732 | 11.6 | 2 |
| Mark Andrews, Balt. | 73 | 847 | 11.6 | 5 |
| Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 32 | 362 | 11.3 | 5 |
| C.J. Uzomah, NYJ | 21 | 232 | 11.0 | 2 |
| Cole Kmet, Chi. | 50 | 544 | 10.9 | 7 |
| Austin Hooper, Ten. | 41 | 444 | 10.8 | 2 |
| David Njoku, Cle. | 58 | 628 | 10.8 | 4 |
| Dawson Knox, Buff. | 48 | 517 | 10.8 | 6 |
| Noah Gray, K.C. | 28 | 299 | 10.7 | 1 |
| T.J. Hockenson, 2TM | 86 | 914 | 10.6 | 6 |
| Evan Engram, Jac. | 73 | 766 | 10.5 | 4 |
| Isaiah Likely, Balt. | 36 | 373 | 10.4 | 3 |
| Will Dissly, Sea. | 34 | 349 | 10.3 | 3 |
| Dalton Schultz, Dall. | 57 | 577 | 10.1 | 5 |
| Kylen Granson, Ind. | 31 | 302 | 9.7 | 0 |
| Noah Fant, Sea. | 50 | 486 | 9.7 | 4 |
| Gerald Everett, LAC | 58 | 555 | 9.6 | 4 |
| Tyler Conklin, NYJ | 58 | 552 | 9.5 | 3 |
| Ian Thomas, Car. | 21 | 197 | 9.4 | 0 |
| Cade Otton, T.B. | 42 | 391 | 9.3 | 2 |
| Trey McBride, Ari. | 29 | 265 | 9.1 | 1 |
| Jonnu Smith, N.E. | 27 | 245 | 9.1 | 0 |
| Daniel Bellinger, NYG | 30 | 268 | 8.9 | 2 |
| Robert Tonyan, G.B. | 53 | 470 | 8.9 | 2 |
| Cameron Brate, T.B. | 20 | 174 | 8.7 | 0 |
| Zach Ertz, Ari. | 47 | 406 | 8.6 | 4 |
| Tyler Higbee, LAR | 72 | 620 | 8.6 | 3 |
| Logan Thomas, Was. | 39 | 323 | 8.3 | 1 |
| Hayden Hurst, Cin. | 52 | 414 | 8.0 | 2 |
| Harrison Bryant, Cle. | 31 | 239 | 7.7 | 1 |
| Irv Smith, Min. | 25 | 182 | 7.3 | 2 |
The other players at the top of this table include several we've talked about here recently -- Chigoziem Okonkwo, Dallas Goedert. Also grading out well are athletic receivers like Darren Waller and Kyle Pitts. Some intriguing potential.
Negative is that the Steelers already have a highly capable receiving tight end in Pat Freiermuth, and two what should be high-volume wide receivers in Diontae Johnson and George Pickens. But perhaps they'll use a lot of sets with two tight ends, and take advantage of Washington's size in the red zone.
What's clear is that there's some difference-making athleticism, if they use him.
--Andy Richardson