Getting to Know Steelers First-Rounder Derrick Harmon
With the 21st pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Derrick Harmon, DL from Oregon. With that pick, I think the Steelers sent a welcome message to the fan base that they still have a reputation and an identity that they intend to uphold, and I’ve seen nothing but glowing endorsements of this pick.
Derrick Harmon is a rust belt guy, born and raised in Detroit, MI, where he attended Loyola High School. He was a three-star-rated recruit coming out when he committed to play for the Michigan State Spartans. His time at Michigan State was underwhelming, and he finished with 69 total tackles and 3.5 sacks across three seasons. He was good enough, particularly against the run, to stay relevant in Michigan State’s rotation, but in 2024, he transferred to Oregon where he was able to shed some weight, and really hone in on his abilities as a pass rusher. There, he led the nation in total pressures from an interior defensive lineman and earned second-team AP All-American honors.
Of course, I use this platform to talk about football, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the news that came out after draft night about Derrick Harmon’s mother, Tiffany Saine. For those that don’t know, she was on life support in the hospital throughout this entire process, and she passed away shortly after he was selected by the Steelers. I’m very excited to dive into what makes Derrick Harmon a special football player, but he is a human being first and foremost, and I hope he takes whatever amount of time he needs and gets the support he needs to be ok. Football is obviously secondary in that regard.
With that being said, Harmon is a Pittsburgh Steeler through-and-through. I’ve already mentioned his rust belt background, but don’t take it from me; NFL execs feel that way too. Draft analyst Lance Zeirlein quoted an unnamed NFL executive as saying: “He plays like a Raven or a Steeler. Off the tape, he reminds me of a young Cam Heyward but bigger." That’s quite the endorsement as Cam Heyward has put together a hell of a career with the Steelers, and will be in the first-ballot Hall of Fame discussions when it’s all said and done.
Derrick Harmon does a lot of things well, but his versatility is one of the things that stands out to me immediately when I think about the tape I’ve watched of him. I saw him up and down the line in even fronts and odd fronts, at 0-tech and as far out as 5-tech. Oregon lined him up all over the place, and I think that versatility makes him an asset to the Steelers from day one. Another thing that I think makes him an asset on day one is that he eats up blocks and keeps the guys around him clean. If you check out the play above against Penn State, Harmon eats up the double team by the C and RG, splits them, and actually makes the play himself. Even if he doesn’t make that play, he damn near takes two blockers completely out of the play here, and on a defense that features Patrick Queen, Keeanu Benton, T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, etc., you can see how Harmon could immediately step in and be useful.
Despite leading the nation in pressures in 2024, it only resulted in 5 sacks, so you’d like to see him finish plays better at the NFL level. Still, you can see in the play above that he’s got an exceptional rip move that he used to win quick and sack Penn State QB Drew Allar. I think him cutting weight between the 2023 and 2024 season(s) is the biggest reason why we’ve seen an uptick and pressures and why his swim and rip moves were so effective in 2024. You can see how quickly he was able to gain leverage on that Penn State guard, and that’s not something he was doing as consistently during his time at Michigan State.
This is where I’d like to see Derrick Harmon take the next step. There’s too many examples of plays like this in Harmon’s film. Here we see him up against Ohio State’s RG, and he wins with a QUICK first step toward the guard’s outside shoulder, but he can’t bring down TreVeyon Henderson for the stuff. This isn’t a bad play, though. He gets hands on Henderson and forces him outside, and the play is finished off by Oregon’s OLB. I’ve spoken before about the role of disruptor being a plus even if you’d like to see Harmon finish those plays himself. To me, that is what separates quality players and game changers.
The same thing can be said for this play against Ohio State, too. Harmon gets free on a stunt and has (newly acquired Steelers QB) Will Howard all to himself. But, Howard is able to just kinda side step by Harmon and get the throw off while Harmon picks himself up off the turf. I understand that Will Howard is a big boy, but you would think between Harmon’s size, speed, and exceptional arm length that he would be able to finish plays like that. Will Howard should’ve been BBQ chicken, but Harmon’s momentum is often easily manipulated by QBs and RBs with quick-twitch kinda movements. I’ve brought this up in SEVERAL posts now, but a 27% missed tackle rate isn’t going to cut it in the NFL.
Ideally, Derrick Harmon would clean those kinds of things up as he and Keeanu Benton grow alongside each other in what is hopefully a long career in the black and gold. In the meantime, with the names around him, he is a perfectly fine complimentary piece capable of eating up space on our defensive line from day one. He’ll be tasked with replacing the production of Larry Ogunjobi, who recently signed with the Buffalo Bills. Larry O. finished the 2024 season with 41 total tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Derrick Harmon will wear number 99 for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I love that, by the way. No disrespect to Larry Ogunjobi, who wore 99 for us the last couple of seasons, but Brett Keisel really set the bar for what 99 in the black and gold looks like, and Ogunjobi wasn’t the right guy for that number. I think Derrick Harmon can live up to it, and I hope he does.
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