Steelers offense needs to feature massive TE Darnell Washington

He has become an increasingly large part of the Steelers offense, and is now up to 18 catches for 209 yards and a touchdown. Almost all of those catches and yards have come since Week 4 when he really started to get meaningful playing time.

Darnell Washington excels away from the stat sheet as well

Head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that Washington is not necessarily getting physically better, but that they are just starting to discover him.

They should continue, because whenever he is on the field good things seem to happen for them. Not only because of what he can do in the passing game, but also because he is an exceptional blocker at tight end. That was also on display on Sunday.

In Washington's two-and-a-half year career the Steelers are 9-0 in games where Washington has played more than 40 snaps, while they average over 100 yards rushing in those games. They are 15-3 when he plays more than 35 snaps.  While that might be a small sample size coincidence, or a reflection of the way those games are going (the Steelers running more with leads late in games), there is a very common trend with them performing better the more he plays. Especially when they get him involved in the passing game. 

There is not really another tight end like him in the NFL, and he can do a lot of things to help maximize what the Steelers offense can do. In the running game, he basically serves as a sixth offensive lineman (which becomes a seventh offensive lineman when they go with their six-man line). In the passing game, he is a matchup problem for linebackers (who can not run with him or match his size) and defensive backs (who can not tackle him). 

It has taken the Steelers a while to figure out what they have in him. Now that they are seeing it, they need to use him as much as possible.