Darnell Washington
Washington is a blocking-first tight end in a two-tight-end Steelers offense. His catches come in bursts when receiver injuries open targets, and he splits that work with Pat Freiermuth.
Role
Reporting describes him as a staple of the 12-personnel offense, co-starting with Pat Freiermuth. Week 1 snaps were Freiermuth 49 and Washington 43 (Rotowire, Sept 14). Washington played 37 offensive snaps against the Patriots (Rotowire). I did not find a current season-long snap share, and I did not read a depth chart page. Through Week 5 he had 11 catches on 16 targets for 131 yards and a touchdown (CBS/Rotowire). Week 6 added 4 catches on 6 targets for 25 yards and a touchdown. Targets are shared with Freiermuth, and Rotowire says injuries to Michael Pittman Jr. (foot) and Roman Wilson (finger) have pushed targets to the tight ends. Robert Tonyan is listed third at TE on Rotowire's page, but I could not date that listing.
He is a regular in the 12-personnel sets and has scored in two of his last three games (Week 4 and Week 6). Receiver injuries are sending extra targets to the tight ends. PFF graded him 7th among 32 qualified TEs at the Week 5 mark. A CBS offseason note said he ranked seventh in yards per route run among tight ends with 40 or more targets in 2025.
Targets are split with Freiermuth, who had 8 catches and 3 touchdowns over the two games before Week 6 and a 5-44-2 line against the Colts in Week 5. Washington's volume is small: 6 targets was his high for the season, and Week 5 was 3 targets. If Pittman and Wilson return, the extra tight end targets could shrink. Several of his touchdowns came on a few catches, which makes the scoring hard to rely on.
Where analysts split
The question is whether the extra targets come from Washington's own usage or only from the injured receivers. The sources I found do not name analysts on either side, so this is my reading of the coverage and not a reported split. Rotowire's Week 6 note calls him the top tight end that day, while Freiermuth led the two weeks before it.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
Others at TE
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