Draft Wire named Darnell Washington as Steelers rookie to watch this week

Mount Washington makes his NFL debut this week.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers take the field against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday night, there will be multiple members of the 2023 NFL draft class in the spotlight. Most NFL draft pundits gave the Steelers high marks for their class and the team has several guys who could have prominent roles on the team this season.

Draft Wire went through every team and named the rookie they are most excited to watch play this week and for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was tight end Darnell Washington. Here’s what Jeff Risdon of Draft Wire had to say about Washington:

The giant tight end from Georgia wound up falling to the Steelers in the third round. It’s time to see if he can do things like this against other teams and not just the Steelers defense.

There’s no doubt the Steelers knew they were getting a dominant run blocker and raw athlete in terms of a receiver. But through just two weeks of training camp, the polish to his route running and catching have started to show up. We’ve always contended that Washington was relegated to the role of sixth offensive lineman out of scheme and not because he couldn’t be a factor in the passing game. It didn’t help he played with Brock Bowers, who is the best pass-catching tight end in college football.

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