Defenses have taken notice of Darnell Washington by now. The Pittsburgh Steelers tight end is also earning some respect from his contemporaries.

Future Pro Football Hall of Famer Travis Kelce, who’s in his 14th season with the Kansas City Chiefs, was dumbfounded watching Washington’s 58-yard catch and run against the Cleveland Browns last week.

“That’s nasty,” Kelce said Wednesday on the “New Heights” podcast. “That’s a hell of a release, too. Would’ve been so nasty if he scored there. … Got the knees up. He wasn’t getting hawked. He got those knees up and got the f*** out of there. Goddamn. He might be my favorite player to watch in the NFL right now. And especially hearing (Mike) Tomlin say he’s a great dude, man.”

Kelce’s 13,412 receiving yards are the second-most by a tight end in NFL history, behind only Tony Gonzalez, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019.

Washington, who has 254 yards and three touchdowns on 19 receptions, is on pace for a career year. He signed a four-year, $42 million contract extension with the Steelers in June.

“He’s a mountain of a man, and he’s got a great catch radius,” Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said of Washington last month. “And he has natural hands catching the football. He just creates space by being humongous. You just kinda gotta put it in his stratosphere and he usually comes down with it.”