Plays of the Year: James Washington’s combat touchdown catch (ending with one hand!)

Steel City Underground presents “Plays of the Year” featuring the tops runs, catches, hits and everything else in-between from the Pittsburgh Steelers 2018 season.

Does this sound familiar from last preseason?

Several months ago, there was NFL Draft drama surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers and their wide receiver depth. The team decided to trade long-beleaguered receiver Martavis Bryant to the Oakland Raiders, leaving a void behind All-Pro Antonio Brown and second-year rising star JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Those concerns were partially put to rest when the Steelers drafted Oklahoma State wide receiver James Washington in the second round of the draft… at least temporarily.

Washington would play sparsely throughout the regular season and come on strong late in the year after some inconsistent play. However, he looked like a man among boys playing in the preseason where he could not be denied snagging the football.

Despite only being the preseason, Washington flashed his ability with a pair of touchdown catches in a Thursday night exhibition game against the Green Bay Packers.

This scintillating “combat catch”, where the rookie leaps and reaches over the opponent… then cradles the ball with the ball with his huge hands for the score, shows that James Washington could be ready for a breakout season in 2019.