While the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t need him to be a starter—let alone a star—coming out of college, as a second-round pick serving as an encore to a very successful second-round pick at the same position a year earlier, James Washington felt the pressure of the expectations that came with his slotting and his environment.
The Steelers entered the 2018 already very well-positioned at the wide receiver position, with Antonio Brown a perennial stud and then-second-year JuJu Smith-Schuster coming off a rookie season in which he emerged as the clear number two receiver with 58 receptions for 917 yards and seven touchdowns in 14 games played.