Steelers may have a concerning Darnell Washington problem

Darnell Washington is impossible to miss on the football field. His massive frame towers over linebackers and safeties; he routinely boxes out in the passing game, and when he's had the ball in his hands, would-be tacklers don't want to get in his way. But the Pittsburgh Steelers could face a concerning issue regarding Washington.

To put it frankly, the tight end is getting too big.

At the 2023 NFL Combine, Washington measured in at nearly 6'7'' and weighed 264 pounds. However, in November of last season, the Steelers' tight end admitted to weighing 311 pounds.

Now Washington looks bigger than ever... and it's no longer a good thing.

During the second week of Steelers OTAs, Mark Kaboly posted a short video of Washington going through receiving drills—and his enormous frame stood out like a sore thumb.

These are just warm-ups. We know that Washington isn't going full speed here, so no need to read too much into his urgency or quickness in this drill.

But the 2023 third-round pick looks bigger than ever, and it's hard to imagine a scenario where being this large is still beneficial to him.

The Pittsburgh Steelers should ask Darnell Washington to cut weight

I'm just going to come out and say it: Darnell Washington doesn't need to be in the 300s. There's just not much benefit in playing at this size as a tight end. Though Washington is an obvious 'people mover' in the run game, he was that at Georgia, and he would be that in the NFL, regardless of his weight.

Even if Washington cut down to the 270-280-pound range, he would still be bigger and longer than any edge rusher he would be asked to chip, and he could still easily go up and get the football against any NFL linebacker or safety in coverage.

The problem with a tight end playing in the 300s is that there's always going to be a sacrifice in terms of speed, fluidity, and overall athletic traits on the field. Though Washington is still a long-strider who can eat up ground, his lateral agility has suffered when playing heavy.

Entering the NFL, Washington ran an official 4.64 40-yard dash (77th percentile, per Mockdraftable) while posting a blazing 4.08 20-yard shuttle (97th percentile). He just doesn't play anywhere near as fast as those testing numbers these days.

With an 83 3/4'' wingspan (98th percentile), Washington always had the ability to put on more weight. But nobody expected him to put on close to 50 pounds from the 2023 Combine to his fourth NFL season.

If the Steelers wanted to make Washington a rare 'positional switch case' and transition him to offensive tackle, the weight would be perfectly in line with that. But as a tight end, you can only get so big and strong before the strength and frame no longer outweigh the loss of athletic traits, movement skills, and ability to get open at the tight end position.

Unfortunately, this is where we are with Washington right now. It's time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to step in and tell him to cut some weight.

Washington is an exceptionally rare football player, but if the plan is to stick at tight end—and it clearly is—then it would be most advantageous to his overall skill set to play lighter to improve his ability as a blocker in space and to be a more threatening pass-catcher.

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