The Steelers added a major weapon for Kenny Pickett -- and perhaps more so for Najee Harris -- by selecting Georgia tight end Darnell Washington with the 93rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, in the third round, on Friday.
Washington will serve as the premier run-blocking tight end and the athletic counterpart to Pat Freiermuth, Zach Gentry, and Connor Heyward as Omar Khan and Co. sat back for a tight end falling because of reported knee issues.
Nonetheless, the 6-foot-7, 264-pound Washington enters the fold as the second Georgia player taken in this draft and third over the last two seasons. He, of course, comes after the Steelers drafted George Pickens in the second round last year and traded up to pick Broderick Jones 14th overall Thursday.
"Man, the emotion is crazy," Washington said in a conference call with reporters Friday after being picked. "This is a dream come true. Not only that, but it also comes with a perk playing alongside my old teammate, George, GP. Broderick Jones, we go back to the Under Armour games in high school and now we’ve played at Georgia together. It’s hard for me to speak right now just because of how happy I am. Just to be a Steeler, a great franchise. Just to become a part of that is amazing."
Mt. Washington dupe 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/1DnBpipF2Q
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) April 29, 2023
A life-changing 𝘾𝘼𝙇𝙇 #GoDawgs | #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/kvqRqXEuOd
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) April 29, 2023
Washington's statistics don't necessarily pop off of the paper, but he does pop off of the tape for how athletic he truly is. His career highs in receptions and yards in a game at Georgia, respectively, are five and 78, so while he is not the receiving threat from this position like Dalton Kincaid or Michael Mayer were among this draft class, that isn't really what Matt Canada needed for his offense in this particular situation.
"It’s all over the tape," Canada said after the selection. "He’s a giant human being that takes pride in blocking. He enjoys being a blocker. I think he’s been quoted saying he’s a sixth offensive lineman. He understands what his body can do, and I do think he can catch balls. They had so many weapons at Georgia and I’m not sure his totals are maybe what you might think they could be. He’s definitely a blocker, and as a guy, we obviously formal-ed him and met him there in Indy and we had him back (for a top 30 visit). Just a really, really good person. Likes football, likes being physical. Really excited about him."
The @steelers newest TE Darnell Washington is BUILT DIFFERENT 😤 @GeorgiaFootball pic.twitter.com/CbWhkPpwcg
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) April 29, 2023
The Las Vegas native Washington was a five-star prospect in Georgia's loaded recruiting class of 2020, the same which brought Jones to Georgia. He was rated by the 247Sports composite as the No. 23 overall recruit in the nation in 2020.
In his three years at Georgia, Washington tallied 45 catches for 774 yards and three touchdowns.
"I think it gives us more personnel," Canada said. "You talk about the tight end that comes in, and more opportunities, different guys playing, and obviously we want to continue to get better and we have to get better. Where that’s going to take us, I don’t want to say right now or get into that. But we’re really excited about the two guys we just got. We got two really, really good players in two days."
Washington earned an NFL Next Gen Stats grade of 85, second among tight ends in this draft. That came with an athleticism grade of 91, per their scale. Among tight ends at the NFL Combine, Washington's 4.64 40-yard dash finished sixth, his 10-foot-2 broad jump eighth, his 21 bench press reps fourth, and his 4.08 shuttle time was first.
He was third-rated tight end on Pro Football Focus' big board, but fell to becoming the eighth taken due to reported concerns over his knee.
Washington cleared the air on that:
"I feel great, man," he said. "Something they probably had concern with is probably the knees because I am tall and a bigger guy but, they’re talking about some knee swelling. For me, I’ve never had injuries with my knees, knock on wood. I never tore anything in the knee. I had surgery on the right one, but it was just to clean some cartilage up. There was no tear, no break, no fracture, no nothing. For people to say that, I mean, all the concerns, at the end of the day, it’s just teams taking risks on us players and no other teams wanted to take a risk. For me, a great player, and that’s what Pittsburgh got."
Carolina traded their 93rd pick and their 132nd pick in the fourth round to the Steelers for the 80th selection. With that 80th pick, the Panthers took Oregon edge rusher DJ Johnson.
Entering Saturday's NFL Draft Day 3, the Steelers hold pick 132, along with picks 241 and 251 in the seventh round.