The best wide receiver that the Pittsburgh Steelers have to offer is also their least appreciated.
The Steelers have what is currently one of the most bragworthy receiving units in the entire National Football League. This corps includes four notable talents that are frequent faces seen on the passing game. Those four are the giant rookie target Chase Claypool, the social media icon JuJu Smith-Schuster, the somewhat inconsistent yet still extremely reliable Diontae Johnson, and…who’s that other guy again? Oh yeah, James Washington. What is he known for? Well, not much, other than being an outstanding spectacle on the football field whenever he is given an ounce of responsibility.
In other words, I would say that Washington is known for how underused he is. But despite how unfortunate such a predicament may be, it is not completely incomprehensible. As previously stated, Pittsburgh has quite the depth on their receiving lineup. With that, one is bound to be overlooked to some degree, especially with a route-running tight end like Eric Ebron also being in the offensive drive on a consistent basis.
Nonetheless, I still take issue with James being underutilized, and to a rather noticeable extent, no less. This is especially frustrating when you can argue that, both on and off the gridiron, Washington is perhaps the best receiver in the Steel City to begin with. With there being talks about possibly seeing an altered version of this offense in the fall, what better time is there to try and help James Washington break through to his true potential than now? With that in mind, let’s take a look at three reasons why James Washington is the overall best wide receiver that the Pittsburgh Steelers have on their roster right now.
#1–He’s not controversial
In my previous installments of picking apart the antics of Pittsburgh WRs, it is evident that I have become no stranger to criticizing the questionable nature of a couple of their behaviors. With that said, I will try to keep this one brief.
James Washington standing alongside his fellow receivers is like NBA all-star Tim Duncan standing amongst Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan. Duncan was great too, but he never made headlines for his statements or actions; he was never a figure that was plastered all over the media like the others were. That’s how Washington appears whenever his association with JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool is acknowledged. He does what he can to keep his name out of the source for any reason other than his play, and I personally feel that there is something to applaud in regards to such maturity. Maybe his colleagues can jot down a note or two for future reference.