Steelers Massive TE Open to Position Change

The Pittsburgh Steelers may have another left tackle option on their hands. With Broderick Jones struggling and dealing with an injury to his groin, and Calvin Anderson going down with a soft tissue injury, the team may need to look at their roster and decide how they move forward. Maybe that includes looking at Darnell Washington.

There have been plenty of ideas floating around about how the Steelers could utilize thier 300-pound tight end, who excells as a blocker. And when asked about the posibility of him playing tackle at some point in his career, he revealed that he's pretty open to it.

"Personally, I feel like I can," Washington said. "Right now, I’m a tight end, so I’m gonna focus on that. But later on down the road — or at any time in the road — if they ask for me to do that, I’m gonna do it to my best ability."

Washington said he's an "open minded dude," and ready for whatever challenge he's presented with at the NFL level. For now, that's playing tight end, where he's having his best training camp as a professional. But maybe down the road, that changes.

The Steelers have confidence in Jones moving to left tackle and succeeding, but the former first-round pick has been a glaring hole throughout training camp. Unable to hold his own against Alex Highsmith or Nick Herbig, Jones has some serious ground to make up before he's going to protect Aaron Rodgers at a proficent rate.

As for Washington, he's in a group of tight ends that now includes Pat Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith ahead of him. Pittsburgh is running a tight end-friendly offense this season, utilizing all three of their options - and Connor Heyward - as much as possible. So, while he's third on the depth chart, he's going to see plenty of playing time this season.

At tight end and maybe offensive tackle.