Snap Counts: Darnell Washington Falls to 3rd in Steelers TE Pecking Order

Alan Saunders |

Updated: Nov 1, 2023

Steelers TE Darnell Washington — Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington at practice on Oct. 27, 2023. -- Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

One week might be a blip, but two weeks is a trend, and it’s pretty clear that the Pittsburgh Steelers have a lot more faith in second-year tight end Connor Heyward than rookie Darnell Washington with Pat Freiermuth out.

In fact, in the team’s Week 8 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, it was Rodney Williams, not Darnell Washington that was second in the pecking order. With Freiermuth on injured reserve from his hamstring injury, Heyward again was the runaway leader with 49 offensive snaps. Williams was second with 12. Washington was dead last with 10 — down from 32 the previous week.

Part of that was an overall reduction in the number of tight end snaps. Against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 7, wide receiver Diontae Johnson was in his first game back from a hamstring injury of his own, and he had about half of his usual workload. Tight ends picked up the slack. Sunday, Johnson played 61 snaps out of 67 for the offense. So with Johnson back to 100%, that left fewer opportunities for the tight ends.

But it’s still clear that it’s Heyward and then Washington and Williams in a near heat. Head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about the disparity and said the game situation, with the Steelers trailing throughout, made them do some things that were not necessarily their intention.

“Just how the game was unfolding,” Tomlin said. “We were down multiple scores, particularly late. Rodney played a lot there, when we were in the one-dimensional phase, if you will. Sometimes snap counts don’t always reflect intentions from a planning standpoint. It’s probably more a reflection of how the game unfolded.”

It’s clear that the Steelers don’t see Washington as much of a receiving threat. He’s played 190 snaps, with 108 of them coming on running plays. Sixteen more, he was assigned to pass block. That leaves 66 routes run for Washington this season and he has been targeted just three times — with one catch.

Compare that to Williams, who started the season on the practice squad. He has played 27 snaps: 17 runs, 10 pass, none as a pass blocker. In those 10 routes run, he has already been targeted twice.

Williams was a practice squad stash, and while he does possess talent, the Steelers invested a third-round pick Washington with the idea that he could be much more than a giant blocker. So far, that hasn’t been the case.

STEELERS OFFENSIVE SNAP COUNTS

Pos	Player	SF	CLE	LV	HOU	BAL	LAR	JAX
QB	Kenny Pickett	63	54	62	49	66	59	28
QB	Mitch Trubisky	0	0	0	10	0	0	39
QB	Mason Rudolph	EQB	EQB	EQB	EQB	EQB	EQB	EQB
RB	Najee Harris	33	31	31	29	37	34	35
RB	Jaylen Warren	25	23	28	29	32	27	32
RB	Anthony McFarland	5	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR
RB	Qadree Ollison	—	0	1	—	—	—	—
RB	Godwin Igwebuike	—	—	INA	INA	INA	0	0
WR	George Pickens	56	46	55	58	58	53	62
WR	Allen Robinson II	56	47	50	50	57	38	46
WR	Calvin Austin III	35	41	45	53	37	7	18
WR	Diontae Johnson	27	IR	IR	IR	IR	39	61
WR	Miles Boykin	5	4	8	6	12	0	5
WR	Gunner Olszewski	INA	1	INJ	INA	4	—	—
TE	Pat Freiermuth	32	41	49	30	INJ	IR	IR
TE	Darnell Washingon	24	26	29	25	46	31	10
TE	Connor Heyward	17	10	13	15	37	51	49
TE	Rodney Williams II	—	—	—	—	4	11	12
LT	Dan Moore Jr.	63	54	62	8	INJ	59	66
RT	Chukwuma Okorafor	59	54	62	59	66	59	67
LG	Issac Seumalo	63	54	62	59	66	59	67
RG	James Daniels	63	54	62	INJ	INJ	59	67
C	Mason Cole	63	54	62	59	66	59	67
OT	Broderick Jones	4	0	0	51	66	0	5
OT	Dylan Cook	INA	INA	INA	0	0	INA	INA
C/G	Nate Herbig	0	0	0	59	66	0	0
OL	Spencer Anderson	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
OL	Ryan McCollum	—	—	—	—	0	—	—

STEELERS DEFENSIVE SNAP COUNTS

Pos	Player	SF	CLE	LV	HOU	BAL	LAR	JAX
DT	Larry Ogunjobi	43	51	49	46	48	49	53
DT	Montravius Adams	34	52	47	41	56	46	49
DE	DeMarvin Leal	26	39	33	21	INJ	23	14
NT	Keeanu Benton	29	28	21	29	33	19	30
DT	Armon Watts	INA	22	18	34	18	17	28
DT	Isaiahh Loudermilk	31	14	9	13	13	0	9
DT	Cam Heyward	14	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR	IR
NT	Breiden Fehoko	—	INA	INA	INA	0	INA	INA
OLB	T.J. Watt	48	70	59	62	60	57	56
OLB	Alex Highsmith	49	68	52	63	61	53	63
OLB	Markus Golden	25	19	20	13	14	14	14
OLB	Nick Herbig	16	17	13	4	5	12	9
ILB	Cole Holcomb	53	78	53	63	64	56	64
ILB	Kwon Alexander	47	52	47	27	31	47	38
ILB	Elandon Roberts	29	27	17	42	29	19	31
ILB	Mark Robinson	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
CB	Patrick Peterson	67	85	71	71	63	67	71
CB	Levi Wallace	67	78	67	71	66	49	INJ
CB	Joey Porter Jr.	7	14	27	10	28	53	59
CB	James Pierre	0	0	0	0	0	2	9
CB	Chandon Sullivan	13	47	18	21	24	22	28
CB	Desmond King			0	0	1	—	—
FS	Minkah Fitzpatrick	68	46	72	71	70	68	8
S	Damontae Kazee	49	77	53	34	43	58	67
SS	Keanu Neal	33	61	41	45	42	17	69
SS	Miles Killebrew	0	2	1	0	1	0	12
DB	Elijah Riley	0	10	0	0	0	0	0