Darnell Washington stood at his locker on a June afternoon and said something that most third-year tight ends would not say out loud.
"I know my role. I'm not going to sit here and act like I'm a pass catcher tight end."
That kind of honesty is rare in June, when every player is a star in shorts and a helmet. But Washington, the Steelers' massive tight end drafted in 2023, has never been interested in pretending. He knows what he is. He also knows what he wants to become.
The 6-foot-7, 264-pound blocker caught 31 passes for 364 yards and one touchdown in the 2025 season. Those numbers do not jump off the page. They do not scream breakout. But they tell a story of a player who has grown comfortable in his own skin while quietly expanding the edges of his game.
"It's crazy just to see a guy like... he ain't lose a step yet."
Washington was talking about someone else, but he could have been talking about the quarterback whose arm he watches every day. Aaron Rodgers, now in his 42nd year, still throws a deep ball that makes defensive backs flinch. Washington sees it. He feels it.
"Just to see the arm challenge still there, and you know, Roman just... opening up the deep ball."
Roman Wilson, the second-year receiver from Michigan, was starting to find his footing before the 2025 season ended. He caught 12 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games, flashes of the slot separator the Steelers hoped they drafted in the third round a year ago. Now with DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. commanding attention on the outside, the middle of the field should open up. That is where Washington lives.
He is not a pass-catching tight end yet. But he is learning how to become one.
"I do take things from other people's game, definitely the receiving game and the route running game," Washington said. "I kind of just take things from a little bit of everybody's game."
That willingness to study and absorb is what made Washington an intriguing project coming out of Georgia. He was never going to be Travis Kelce. He was always going to be a hammer in the run game, a blocker who could seal the edge for running backs like Jaylen Warren, who rushed for 958 yards and six touchdowns in 2025, and newcomer Rico Dowdle, who piled up 1,076 yards for the Panthers that same season.
The Steelers have a crowded backfield. Kaleb Johnson, the 2025 fifth-round pick, saw limited work as a rookie. Lew Nichols has barely touched the field. Travis Homer is a special-teamer. But the rotation up front is the part that matters for Washington. When the offense runs the ball effectively, everything else falls into place.
"When offense could run the ball, it opens up, you know, play action or whatever," Washington said.
That is not a throwaway line. It is a philosophy. Head coach Mike McCarthy, entering his second offseason with Pittsburgh, has stressed roster flexibility and competition at every position. The Steelers are not a finished product. They are a team in transition, with a new coaching staff, a rookie quarterback in Drew Allar taken in the third round of April's draft, and a veteran signal-caller in Rodgers who still believes he can push this franchise back into contention.
Washington fits somewhere in the middle of that equation. He is young enough to grow with the new wave. He is established enough to know what works.
"Just learning how to be a pro and just the maturity level of everything," he said. "This offseason is going to be, you know, bigger for me and just got to stay locked into it."
The Steelers are deep at tight end. Pat Freiermuth is the starter, coming off a 41-catch, four-touchdown season in 2025. Behind him, Robert Tonyan provides veteran depth. Rookie Riley Nowakowski was drafted in the fifth round this year. But Washington offers something none of them can: raw power at the point of attack combined with enough athleticism to threaten the seam.
The question is whether that threat becomes real.
McCarthy has talked about the importance of the second contract for players, the one that changes lives. Washington is not there yet. He is still on his rookie deal, still proving he belongs. But he is not just surviving. He is learning.
"I think it helps me with... just opening up the route tree for me."
That is the key. Washington is expanding his route tree. He is not just a straight-line blocker anymore. He is working on the intermediate zones, the option routes, the out cuts that turn a big body into a matchup problem for linebackers and safeties. If he can add even a modest receiving threat to his blocking foundation, the Steelers will have something far more valuable than a typical Y tight end.
They will have a player who can stay on the field on any down.
That is the goal. Washington knows it. He said as much.
"I guess that's the plan, that's the goal, but just got to wait and see."
There is a patience in his voice that comes from understanding the NFL's rhythm. Year one is survival. Year two is finding your footing. Year three is where careers are made or stalled.
Washington is entering year four.
He has played 16 games in each of the last two seasons. He has not missed significant time. He has been reliable, durable, and quietly effective. Now, with McCarthy's system being installed and the offense still finding its identity, Washington has a chance to carve out a role that goes beyond third-and-short blocking.
The Steelers do not need him to be a 70-catch tight end. They have Freiermuth for that. They need him to be what he is becoming: a complete tight end who can block a defensive end on one play and leak out for a 20-yard gain on the next.
That is a rare commodity in a league that has split tight ends into two categories. The receiving specialists get the money. The blockers get the respect of the film room. Washington wants both.
"I know my role," he said.
But he also knows it is not finished. Not yet. The hardest part of being a player like Washington is the waiting. The reps come slow. The targets come even slower. The labels stick.
And then, one day, they do not.
Washington is not there yet. But he is working. He is watching. He is taking a little bit from everybody's game.
When the Steelers report for training camp in July, he will not be fighting for a roster spot. That battle is already won. He will be fighting for something bigger: a role that cannot be described by a single word.
Not just a blocker. Not just a receiver. Just a tight end who can do both.
The story of Darnell Washington is not finished. It is barely past the introduction.