Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin often talks about "positionless football," the ability of players to do more than just one job in a league that has become specialized when it comes to certain players.

This player is a third-down back but is not viewed as an every-down runner. That player is a nickel defensive back in the slot, but doesn't really fit into a base defense. There are many examples.

Perhaps the Steelers' biggest wildcard player – no pun intended – in regards to being capable of wearing several hats is tight end Darnell Washington.

At 6-foot-8 and a listed weight of 280 pounds, Washington is a big target in the passing game, something the Steelers have utilized to an even greater degree this season than they did a year ago when he caught just seven passes as a rookie. Washington already has 17 catches for 185 yards and a touchdown this season.

But he's also a huge part of what the Steelers do in their running game, as well. Considered a plus-blocker coming out of Georgia in the 2023 NFL Draft, Washington has improved upon that, as well.

According to Pro Football Focus, Washington is one of the top-10 blockers at the tight end position for players who are on the field for more than 50 percent of their team's offensive snaps.

It has led to speculation among fans that perhaps Washington could perhaps shift to offensive tackle at some point in his career, something Steelers Hall of Honor player and four-time Super Bowl winner Larry Brown did during his career with the team.

Washington doesn't shy away from that kind of talk.

"I feel like he could make the transition if he had a year to do it," said Steelers offensive lineman Spencer Anderson. "He always jokingly says, 'I might play offensive tackle. I can play tackle.' We always tell him, 'Yeah, we can play tight end, too.' We're built the same. But he says, 'You can't play tight end.'

"It would just take him focusing more on blocking and technique. You wouldn't have to know the route tree and stuff like that."

Washington has played 55.4 percent of the Steelers' offensive snaps this season, the ninth-most of any offensive player on the roster.

"I think Jimmy Graham's probably the biggest guy I've played with, in terms of how tall he was and everything else. Jimmy was special," said Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson. "Darnell has got such big physical attributes. He's 315 pounds, can run, can catch. I think, really, I just think that you know how versatile he is.

"I think his ability to make plays down the field, his ability to catch the ball in the flat and jump over guys, his ability to be a key part of our run scheme and blocking and everything else, he just has that grit, he has that mentality. He's a national champion guy who's been at the highest level, played big-time football. You just love being around him."

Wait, 315 pounds?

Wilson might have been exaggerating – just a little.

"I know his exact weight. I don't know that he wants it to be put out there," said Anderson. "I will say from what I have heard, the speculation, he is not 315, but he's not in the 200s."

So, having Washington on the field is like having a sixth offensive lineman out there. And in recent weeks, the Steelers have taken that even further, utilizing Anderson in recent weeks as a sixth offensive lineman. When he's on the field as well as Washington, the Steelers have seven 300-pound players at the line of scrimmage.

But, can Anderson catch the ball like Washington as a tackle-eligible player?

"I can catch the ball. I'm waiting on the route," Anderson said. "I feel like if I was to sneak out, I would definitely catch it. Whether I have to go up over a DB, I'd probably catch that, too. I've got hands."

• Former Steelers stars Hines Ward and James Harrison have once again made the cut to 25 for consideration for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

This is the ninth time Ward has advanced to this point, while Harrison will be among the final 25 for the third time.

Getting to the final 25 multiple times is a heck of an achievement. Making it to the final 15 and being considered by the 50 Hall of Fame voters is the next step. And that's been the hangup for both.

It shouldn't be.

Ward will be competing not only against the other 24 semifinalists, but against fellow wide receivers Torry Holt, Steve Smith, Reggie Wayne and Anquan Boldin.

Ward's career statistics compared to that group are better than many might think.

From 2000 through 2010, Ward led the NFL in receptions with 878. He also was 4th in that span in touchdowns with 76 and 5th in receiving yards with 10,818.

Ward's 1,000 career receptions still rank 14th on the all-time list. His 12,083 receiving yards are 28th. His 85 receiving touchdowns are tied for 19th.

More telling, he caught more passes in his career than Holt and is just behind Smith, Wayne and Boldin. But he has more touchdown catches than all of the other wide receiver semifinalists.

This was despite the fact that in nine of Ward's first 10 seasons in the NFL, the Steelers finished in the top 10 in the NFL in rushing. In only two of those seasons did they finish in the top 10 in passing yards.

From 2000 through 2010, The Steelers' average finish in passing was 17th in the NFL. In that same time span, their average finish in running the ball was 10th. And they finished with top-10 rushing teams seven times during that span.

Ward had 26.5 percent of the Steelers' receptions over that period, 29.8 percent of their receiving yards and 31.7 percent of their touchdown catches. The Steelers advanced to the AFC Championship five times over that period, going to the Super Bowl three times and winning twice. Ward was the MVP of one of those Super Bowl wins.

Beyond that, Ward was a football player first, wide receiver second.

He cut his teeth early in his career as a special teams star, and that mentality permeated into his offensive play. He was the gold standard for blocking at the wide receiver position throughout his career – and maybe of all-time. He also had 428 career rushing yards.

Ward also appeared in 18 career playoff games. In those games, he had 88 receptions for 1,181 yards and 10 touchdowns.

He's one of just eight wide receivers in NFL history to be named the Super Bowl MVP.

Ward's Hall of Fame Monitor score on Pro Football Reference is 75.17. That's better than seven other wide receivers already enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

As for Harrison, during a six-year stretch from 2007 until 2012, he was as feared as any pass rusher in the game.

During that time, Harrison recorded 391 tackles, 78 tackles for a loss, 60 sacks, four interceptions, 29 forced fumbles and 100 quarterback hits. He was the 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, was third in that voting in 2010 and was voted to the All-Pro team four times. He also made arguably the greatest defensive play in Super Bowl history with his 100-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.

He did all of that in his age 29 through 34 seasons.

Harrison's story of being a player early in his career who was released multiple times before working his way into the rotation as a special teams player – where he was one of the best in the NFL. He finally became a starter in 2007 when Tomlin was hired as Steelers head coach and inserted him into the lineup after Joey Porter was released in a salary cap-related move.

That Harrison played for some really good Steelers teams and couldn't get into the starting lineup on a regular basis early in his career shouldn't necessarily be held against him. If he had played on lesser teams, he would have become a starter earlier.

The Hall of Fame has inducted some players over the years who were dominant for short periods of time before their careers were derailed by injuries. Kurt Warner, Gale Sayers, Terrell Davis and one of the 2022 inductees, Tony Boselli, are among that group.

Warner is actually the closest comparison. He was released several times and didn't become a starter until he was 28. His overall career numbers don't measure up to Hall of Fame standards. But he was really good when he was in his prime.

If Warner can get in, so can Harrison.

Here's one more consideration for Harrison. In 14 career playoff starts, he had 11 sacks. He was at his best in the big moments.

But until either or both men make the cut to 15 players, those things won't be discussed among voters.

• The Steelers and Lions are tied for the best record in the NFL against other teams with winning records with perfect 5-0 records this season.

Even more impressive for the Steelers is that in those games against opponents who currently have a winning record is the fact that in those games they are allowing just 13.8 points per game. In those wins against Atlanta, the Chargers, Denver, Baltimore and Washington, they have averaged 19.4 points per game, about three points per game less than the 22.9 points per game they average overall.

The five teams with winning records that the Steelers have faced average a combined 24.9 points per game overall, so the Steelers have held those teams, on average, to 10 points per game less than what they normally score.

Detroit beats those teams with winning records in a different way. The Lions lead the league in points per game at 32.7. But in their games against the five teams with winning records they have beaten – Minnesota, Green Bay, Seattle, Arizona and Houston – the Lions have averaged 28.6 points per game. They have allowed 21.6 points per game in those wins.

The Steelers' opponent this week, the Bengals, are nearly the exact opposite of the Steelers. Cincinnati is 0-6 this season against opponents with a winning record. The Bengals are 4-1 against teams with losing records.

• The Trey Hendrickson vs. Dan Moore matchup this week will be one that's talked about at great length. After all, Hendrickson leads the NFL with 11.5 sacks after recording 17.5 in 2023.

Hendrickson also has accounted for 60.5 percent of Cincinnati's 19 total team sacks, the highest percentage of anyone in the league. Nobody else on the Bengals' roster has more than 2 sacks.

Hendrickson also has 24 quarterback hits, which leads the NFL.

Here's the rub, however. Of Hendrickson's sacks, 10 have come in four games. Of his quarterback hits, 18 have come in those four games.

He had four sacks and seven quarterback hits in a game against the Raiders. He had two sacks and five quarterback hits against the Browns – when Deshaun Watson was playing. He had two sacks and three quarterback hits against the Giants. And he had two sacks and three quarterback hits against the Chiefs.

In six career games against the Steelers, Hendrickson has six sacks and 11 quarterback hits. But given that the Bengals have nobody else who can rush the passer, the Steelers should be able to limit Hendrickson's effect on this game.

Myles Garrett had three sacks last week against the Steelers, leading many to believe Moore had a bad day working against him.

But one of the sacks came on a stunt up the middle late in the half. On the other two, Moore was supposed to have help, but it was late getting there.

"We didn't leave him by himself," said offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. "We did everything else. We had help there, and credit to Myles and really the whole Cleveland defense. I know what it looks like. Everybody gets different perceptions. Obviously, it doesn't look good. You don't want your tackle to feel like he's hung out to dry, because Dan's had a really good season. And obviously, when you lose a game at the end like that, there's a lot to it. But in all three of those plays, you got chip help over there and it wasn't clear. It's not on Dan. There were two of them we were supposed to help him."

Sometimes, to Smith's point, the defense will send blitzers that the running back, who is supposed to chip, feels he has to pick up. The way to alleviate that issue is to perhaps line a tight up next to Moore in some of those situations.

Because of that, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see Washington or MyCole Pruitt lining up next to Moore a lot this week. The Bengals will certainly try to do some of the things the Browns did to get Garrett looks.

• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast Pittonline@iheartmedia.com

• A lot is made out of Tomlin's "coaching tree" by those who wish to take shots at the Steelers head coach.

And while Tomlin doesn't have the tree that some of his contemporaries might have, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

There are some inherent reasons for that.

First, many of Tomlin's assistants over the years have been older, established assistant coaches who aren't necessarily looking to jump ship.

As assistant coaches, they've done all the moving around that happens with young coaches. Or, in some cases, such as those with say, Dick LeBeau, Mike Munchak or even Todd Haley, they have been a head coach before and might not be looking to go that route again.

And the other part of the equation is about the relationship Tomlin and the Steelers have with their assistants.

In a business in which there's typically a lot of turnover from season-to-season, many of Tomlin's assistant coaches over the years have had long tenures with the team.

That's attractive in a business in which many coaches change jobs every year or two because they were fired or got a job somewhere else.

That's why while Smith's name was mentioned this week as a potential replacement for Mack Brown at his alma mater, North Carolina, he wasn't really interested, even though someone in the search process reached out to him to feel him out about the job.

(UNC) reached out on a preliminary call," Smith said. "I appreciate it, love that place. But that's not my focus. I mean I've got one of the best jobs in football right now. There's a lot to be said too about (how you) can't put a price on personal and professional happiness, which I have here.

"I've got an awesome job here. Love it here in Pittsburgh. (I) probably (have) a different mindset than I had five, four years ago where any head job, I probably would've walked there to take it. Now my perspective' is different, and when you've got something good like I got here in Pittsburgh right now, family loves it here, I like the working environment, love being a Steeler."

That's not to say that at 42, Smith has closed the door on ever leaving the Steelers. But he won't leave for just any job.