Where is Steelers WR James Washington on the depth chart?

This is the time of year when media outlets start making predictions for the upcoming season. NFL.com’s  Gregg Rosenthal did exactly that. In a recent article, Rosenthal predicted the starting lineups of each AFC North team heading into the 2019 season.

Most of his depth chart predictions for the Steelers were expected – the offensive line remained the same as last year, and Devin Bush and Steven Nelson were inserted as starters to begin the year.

However, one thing really stood out to me: Rosenthal did not include James Washington in his top three wide receivers for the Steelers in 2019. Instead, his top three wide-outs, in order, were JuJu Smith-Schuster, Donte Moncrief, and Diontae Johnson.

The Steelers signed Moncrief this offseason and paid him a fair amount of money. We have heard rumors that Pittsburgh was really high on 3rd round draft choice, Diontae Johnson in the draft, and JuJu is obviously their ‘go-to’ guy.

But is excluding James Washington from the top 3 receivers the right way to go?

Just a year ago, the Steelers were ecstatic to land James Washington in the 2nd round of the NFL Draft. He exploded in the preseason – catching 7 passes for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns. Washington then fell off in a pretty big way.

In the regular season, James Washington didn’t make an impact and failed to capitalize on the few opportunities he was given playing behind Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster. He did however, finish the last 3 games of the season with 6 catches on 9 targets for 129 yards.

Washington wasn’t great by an means last season. He ranked 117th out of all eligible receivers, according to Pro Football Focus. However, he deserves a much bigger look in 2019.

According to a report from this past April, Chris Adamski of TribLIVE.com said the following about Mike Tomlin and his view on James Washington:

"Mike Tomlin on the group of WRs the Steelers have at the moment heading into the draft: “I’m comfortable with the guys we have in the room at this juncture.”But lays down a gauntlet that he expects James Washington to take a big leap in Year 2 for him.— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) April 22, 2019"

According to Adamski, Tomlin was recorded saying this before the draft. The Steelers did draft Diontae Johnson, but would they really be willing to give up on last years’ 2nd round pick so easily?

Washington doesn’t have great speed, but found a way to win often down the field in college. At just under six-feet, Washington outplays his size and has an incredibly strong set of hands. We saw flashes of how easily the former Oklahoma State product could pluck the ball out of the air, but he will need to do that on a more consistent basis.

Rosenthal might just be taking a shot in the dark with excluding James Washington from the Steelers top three wide receivers this year, but it’s entirely possible that Washington is the Steelers number two receiver, not their number four, in 2019.