He’s only 5-foot-8, but TCU’s Ar’Darius Washington is ‘a guy that makes plays’
TCU safety Ar’Darius Washington can squat 640 pounds, which is more than three times his body weight. He can bench press and clean 370 pounds, which is more than twice his weight.
That strength helps Washington play bigger than what most might expect from a guy who is listed at 5-foot-8, 178 pounds. Despite being shorter than the prototypical safety, Washington has made his presence felt since becoming a starter in TCU’s secondary as a redshirt freshman last season.
“A lot of times they think small guys aren’t that strong, so I just want to prove those guys wrong and prove myself right,” Washington said. “You’ve got to take a lot of pride in it. I’m not that big of a guy, so I’ve just got to go out there with the heart knowing that I can do it.
“The coaches help me along with that in putting me in the right position.”
The proof has been in the results.
Washington had a standout redshirt freshman season with five interceptions in 2019, the most by a freshman in the Gary Patterson era. He earned Big 12 defensive freshman of the year honors and was the nation’s second-highest graded safety by Pro Football Focus.
Washington hasn’t had that type of a season in 2020 yet, but has still put up respectable numbers with 22 tackles and two pass breakups.
Maybe the interceptions will fall his way this weekend at West Virginia. After all, Washington had two interceptions against the Mountaineers last season.
“I got put in the right position and my coach did a great job of telling me what route to expect,” Washington said. “Just being in the right position at all times.”
Asked if he feels close to getting that first interception, Washington deflected and said: “To be honest, I really don’t care about it as long as we’re winning. I’m doing the best I can to help my team win. That’s where my focus is at.”
If TCU (3-3) is going to win more games than it loses this year, Washington will play a part in it. As stated, he’s regarded as one of the top safeties in the country.
TCU’s defense is playing well of late, too, holding Baylor and Texas Tech to below their season averages in total yards the last two weeks. It’s no surprise that Washington had two of his best games of the season with five tackles and two pass breakups against Baylor, and a team-leading seven tackles against Texas Tech.
“He’s a guy that makes plays,” Patterson said. “I don’t think he’s had as good a year this year as he did last year, but he’s played more. The key for him is sometimes young players get to a point they think they’ve got to do certain things for it to be a successful year and I really stressed on him just being able to play his position and then the plays happen.
“The coverage is going to dictate which receiver is going to be open or has a chance to get the ball. The same thing goes with DBs, the route structure is going to dictate and the formation will dictate whether he has a chance to make a play or not.”
Early on in his college career, Washington has shown a knack for making plays when they come his way. In the end, that matters more than how tall he is.
“I’m going to pave the way for a lot of younger guys that are going to come up at my position that can do it also,” Washington said.
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
