Steelers Now
Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III thinks the Pittsburgh Steelers need to have a heavy dose of Darnell Washington incorporated into their offense this year, especially after the big man’s 19-yard touchdown reception down the seam from Mason Rudolph in Saturday night’s preseason win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“All 6’7 270lbs of Darnell Washington running down the seam is a hard thing to stop. He has been having a great training camp especially coming alive in the redzone. Pittsburgh has to feed the big man more this season,” Griffin wrote on X.
Rudolph was surgical on the opening drive, completing all seven of his passes for 70 yards and a touchdown. Washington explained what happened on the 19-yard tocuhdown that capped the drive.
“I just had a simple seam route,” Washington said. “They went one (safety) high, Cover 3. So, I just kept it down the seam and Mason found me.”
All 6’7 270lbs of Darnell Washington running down the seam is a hard thing to stop. He has been having a great training camp especially coming alive in the redzone. Pittsburgh has to feed the big man more this season. pic.twitter.com/XMGRpnAK7J
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) August 9, 2025
After squeezing a 19-yard touchdown pass from Mason Rudolph on their team’s first offensive series of a preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the 6-foot-7 Washington jammed the ball over the crossbar.
The action drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Before dunking over the goalpost was banned by the NFL in 2014, former Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez did his part in popularizing it. Washington doesn’t think there should be a rule against it.
“Unless it’s, like, excessive hanging on it, then OK … maybe not that,” Washington said afterward. “But, I mean, just a quick little tap or whatever, I feel like (there’s) no harm.”
Washington said he knew he wasn’t allowed to celebrate in such a way.
“I knew something like that, something like that along the lines,” Washington said.
Washington later discussed why avoiding infractions is crucial to the Steelers’ success on offense.
“We talk about pre-snap penalties — that’s jumping offsides, things like that,” Washington said. “Even post-snap penalties, holding. All that stuff can’t come back to bite us in the play at the end. I feel like that’s probably the key thing if you wanna be a good offense, is (to) eliminate all the penalties.
“We can’t worry about, ‘Oh, we just got a big play. Oh, well, they’re calling it back because of this.’”
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Jacksonville, Fla.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Former NFL QB Gives High Praise to Steelers TE Darnell Washington: ‘Feed the Big Man’
