{"id":283494,"date":"2025-08-13T00:33:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T00:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/283494\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T00:33:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T00:33:10","slug":"steelers-are-finally-unlocking-darnell-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/283494\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers Are Finally Unlocking Darnell Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steelers Analysis<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington at practice on Aug. 1, 2025. — Alan Saunders \/ Steelers Now\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

UNITY TWP, Pa. \u2014 The first thing you notice about Darnell Washington is that he is just a gigantic human being. <\/p>\n

Even within the confines of an NFL team, where 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds is a fairly average size for some units, Washington is a gigantic freak of a man.<\/p>\n

When you get to know Darnell Washington a little bit, his personality doesn\u2019t necessarily jive with his chiseled-out-of-a-mountain physique. Washington is humble and quiet. He smiles a lot. He\u2019s tough, but I wouldn\u2019t call him mean.<\/p>\n

Great football players usually have a killer instinct about them. A finely honed edge that borders the line between personality and personalty disorder. That doesn\u2019t mean that all-time greats can\u2019t be great people. But there is usually a switch somewhere that gets thrown where their talent gets a burst of attitude that turns them into someone else entirely.<\/p>\n

Washington hasn\u2019t had those moments to this point in his career. But I think we\u2019re starting to see them. At practice on Tuesday, he went up for a goal-line fade over DeShon Elliott. He had Elliott beat and the ball was delivered perfectly. Elliott held him, trying to do anything to stop the completion. Washington shrugged him aside and jump over the flailing safety for what looked like an easy touchdown.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen more of that from Washington this season. What he did next, we haven\u2019t seen. He flexed his bicep at Elliott, telling the incredibly, big strong and talented safety that he needs to get a little stronger if he wants to cover No. 80. His against-the-rules dunk in celebration of his touchdown on Saturday fit the same mold.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying that Washington should become the next Chad Ochocinco when it comes to post-score antics, but I think that kind of behavior goes hand-in-hand with a level of confidence that I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve seen Washington have to this point in his career, and it\u2019s refreshing to see.<\/p>\n

Just Don\u2019t Even Try No. 5<\/p>\n

\"\"Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey at practice on Aug. 1, 2025. \u2014 Alan Saunders \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

In a red zone 1-on-1 drill, Jalen Ramsey was lined up against DK Metcalf, giving him 10 yards of cushion. Metcalf quickly broke off an in-breaking route and seemed to have easy access to the middle of the field. <\/p>\n

Nope.<\/p>\n

Ramsey drove and broke on the ball, wrapped around the back of Metcalf and easily swatted it away. I don\u2019t know how many completions Ramsey gave up in 1-on-1s this training camp, but it couldn\u2019t have been more than a handful.<\/p>\n

Seven Shots<\/p>\n

It was a solid day for the offense in seven shots, but it did not come without controversy. The offense definitely won the day, but the winning margin remains in doubt.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 Jaylen Warren took a handoff up the middle and scored easily. Connor Heyward had a nice kickout block on T.J. Watt.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 Aaron Rodgers looked right four DK Metcalf in the right side of the end zone. Joey Porter Jr. had solid coverage and the ball went over Metcalf\u2019s head and out of bounds.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 Rodgers tried the left side, where he found Darnell Washington on a fade route. Washington shrugged off a hold by DeShon Elliott and went up and dominated the Steelers\u2019 safety. <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 Mason Rudolph threw for Max Hurleman in the back right of the end zone. Daryl Porter Jr. jumped the route and appeared to have an easy interception. But Porter bobbled the ball, Hurleman grabbed Porter and the ball and they all landed in a pile, with Mad Max at the bottom of it with the football. Without officials on the scene, Steelers scouting coordinator Casey Weidl and player development coach Darrell Young both signaled touchdown. But after practice, Porter insisted that he had completed possession of the ball in the end zone before Hurleman hit him.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 Rudolph next tried the right seam, where Brandon Johnson got open in between James Pierre and Juan Thornhill.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 Lew Nichols III took a handoff and powered straight ahead for a score.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 Skylar Thompson looked left and found a wide-open Lance McCutcheon on what looked like some kind of a busted coverage.<\/p>\n

The offense wins the day. By how much? The world way never know.<\/p>\n

Wish On a Star<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghPittsburgh Steelers cornerback Beanie Bishop covers Robert Woods at training camp on Aug. 6, 2025. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n

Beanie Bishop was locked up with Scotty Miller in a 1-on-1 drill in the red zone. Miller faked to his right, ran to his left, and Bishop was right there with him. Unfortunately, the ball was placed perfectly, just past the outstretched arms of Bishop and corralled by a diving Miller. Bishop covered Miller about as well as he possibly could have, and still gave up the completion.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn, only I was 6-1,\u201d Bishop said, walking back to the huddle.<\/p>\n

Injury Updates<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 DT Yahya Black<\/a> did not practice and was seen sporting a large wrap on his right arm.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 CB Jalen Ramsey (undisclosed), CB Darius Slay (ankle) and CB Joey Porter Jr. (hand) were full participants. <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 QB Will Howard (broken right pinky), WR Calvin Austin III (abdominal), TE Jonnu Smith (knee soreness), OL Calvin Anderson (lower body, soft tissue), C Ryan McCollum (leg), G Aidan Williams (undisclosed), CB Donte Kent (foot\/ankle) and CB Cory Trice (hamstring) did not participate.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 OLB Alex Highsmith (groin) was in uniform, but not in pads, and worked off to the side on his own. <\/p>\n

Notes From Team Periods<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 In a 7-on-7 drill, Kenneth Gainwell had a pass go off his hands, get batted up into the air by Joey Porter Jr., and intercepted by Jalen Ramsey.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 Cole Holcomb made one of the best plays of camp, diving to pick off a Mason Rudolph pass and returning it for a touchdown.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 Logan Woodside got a rep late in practice, and unleashed a pretty deep ball to Roc Taylor. <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 Connor Heyward made a beautiful one-handed catch of an Aaron Rodgers pass over the middle. Heyward had a great last practice.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: Darnell Washington<\/a> Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers<\/a> Steelers Training Camp<\/a> top<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steelers Analysis Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington at practice on Aug. 1, 2025. — Alan Saunders \/…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[457,7,6,520,57,2360,426,26586,3444],"class_list":{"0":"post-283494","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-darnell-washington","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","14":"tag-steelers","15":"tag-steelers-training-camp","16":"tag-top"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}