Slate Stats › NFL › Injury impact
Darnell Washington injury: status, history and who gets his targets if he is out
Pittsburgh Steelers · Tight end · status this week: not on the week 7 injury report (week 7 report, captured Wed 21 Oct, 6:15am)
Over his 3 full seasons on record, Darnell Washington played 50 of 51 regular-season games (98%), and 6 of 6 so far in 2026. Season by season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers room absorbs +0.48 receptions, and Pat Freiermuth takes the largest single share at +0.24. The work stays overwhelmingly inside the tight end room.
Where the work goes
Change in projected receptions for every other player in the offense. The bars are small on purpose — a vacated role is shared out, and any tool showing one replacement absorbing a whole target load is telling you something the data does not support.
Every player in the room
| Player | Catches now | If he sits | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darnell Washington TE · 67% snaps | 2.50 | — | OUT |
| DK Metcalf WR · 95% snaps | 4.90 | 4.90 | +0.00 |
| Germie Bernard WR · 66% snaps | 4.80 | 4.80 | +0.00 |
| Jaylen Warren RB · 84% snaps | 3.30 | 3.30 | +0.00 |
| Michael Pittman WR · 72% snaps | 3.00 | 3.00 | +0.00 |
| Pat Freiermuth TE · 68% snaps | 3.00 | 3.24 | +0.24 |
| Rico Dowdle RB · 26% snaps | 1.70 | 1.70 | +0.00 |
| Roman Wilson WR · 46% snaps | 1.10 | 1.10 | +0.00 |
| Brandon Johnson WR · 4% snaps | 0.80 | 0.80 | +0.00 |
| Brandon Smith WR · 40% snaps | 0.60 | 0.60 | +0.00 |
| Eli Heidenreich RB · 0% snaps | 0.50 | 0.50 | +0.00 |
| Robert Tonyan TE · 6% snaps | 0.20 | 0.44 | +0.24 |
Injury history
Over his 3 full seasons on record, Darnell Washington played 50 of 51 regular-season games (98%), and 6 of 6 so far in 2026.
| Season | Team | Played | Missed | Listed out | Questionable | Injuries listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | PIT | 6 of 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2025 | PIT | 16 of 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Concussion |
| 2024 | PIT | 17 of 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2023 | PIT | 17 of 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
What the data says happens
Measured across every regular-season game from 2018 onward, each beneficiary compared against his own trailing four-game form and net of what the same players do in weeks the room’s number one actually plays.
| Room | Receptions gained | n | t |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receivers | +0.107 | 2,160 | 2.29 |
| Tight ends | +0.492 | 1,024 | 9.57 |
| Backs | -0.045 | 1,259 | -0.92 |
The room total is predictable. Which player takes it is not. Every candidate predictor of who gains — pecking order, snap share, route depth, trailing targets — correlates at roughly r = 0.02. In any single week one player usually takes about 60% of what was vacated; it is simply not predictably the same one.
Darnell Washington’s full stats and usageSnap share, target share, game log and this week’s projection