Former Steelers Player Makes Pitch for Surprising Second-Round Draft Pick

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers have one of the best up-and-coming tight ends in football with Pat Freiermuth, but with Zach Gentry entering free agency and Connor Heyward playing more of a hybrid role as a rookie, one former player is making a pitch for a somewhat surprising first-round draft pick.

Former linebacker Arthur Moats said on his podcast, The Arthur Moats Experience that he'd like to see the Steelers go and select Georgia tight end Darnell Washington.

"I didn’t know he was gonna test well enough to move up to 32," Moats said about Washington's NFL Combine performance. "I thought we was gonna get him at 49 because he doesn’t look like he runs fast. But he’s fast enough and that was the thing that made me so intrigued."

The Steelers currently hold the 17th, 32nd and 49th picks in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft. After watching Washington's showing in Indianapolis, Moats is ready to make him their second pick.

"This dude can run, he’s gonna come back, catch you to death, he’s gonna block you like a dang gone offensive lineman," Moats said. "You watch his tape; he was murdering folks when they played. I was watching the Oregon game; he was murdering folks in just the run game. I’m talking like big boy pancake, extra syrup. It was fire."

He even gave him a very high player comparison.

"Then you watch him receiving, he’s jumping over folks, he’s running by people, he’s gonna one hand you right and one hand you left," Moats said. "He looks like a basketball player. He doesn’t need to be explosive when you got that height and that catch radius, because he can get down here. It’s like the [Rob Gronkowski] vibe."

The Steelers haven't shown their hand on how they plan to fill their tight end hole this offseason. Gentry said earlier this winter that he expects to return, but if Washington is sitting there at pick 32, it'll be hard to find a player who's better and available.

And if Moats can convince anyone in the front office where to go with the team's second pick, the Steelers will draft a new tight end.

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