Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the 2025 NFL Draft with a need along the interior defensive line, and luckily for them, this was widely considered one of the stronger position groups available. Derrick Harmon, the fourth defensive tackle off the board, falling to the 20s had to feel like a dream-come-true scenario for the front office. After earning the starting nod from day one, it’s clear that the club is counting on him to be a big piece of the puzzle moving forward. With that in mind, let’s talk about his rookie campaign—from the immediate impact and necessary areas of improvement to projection moving forward.
Harmon’s professional debut was initially delayed due to an MCL sprain that he suffered in the preseason, but upon his return, it became pretty apparent why he was deserving of the starting nod opposite Cam Heyward. His physical profile following a complete body transformation throughout his collegiate years was his selling point as a prospect. In essence, he is equipped with plenty of mass, long levers at his disposal, and some grown man strength in his upper body at just 22 years old. The term “pro-ready” is a scouting oxymoron of sorts, but those assets were on display last season, primarily as a run defender.
Pittsburgh’s struggles to defend the run in base defense, but they were noticeably better overall whenever Harmon was on the field, as opposed to when he was on the sideline. Opposing offenses averaged just 3.8 yards per carry and a 33.5% success rate when #99 was out there, compared to 4.5 YPC and a 44.4% success rate when he wasn’t according to Sumer Sports. Even after acknowledging the fact that on/off splits can be finicky in a sport with so many variables, the tape backs up the data in this instance.
Harmon is a pretty sturdy fella that holds the point of attack well, and offensive linemen had their work cut out for them whenever they tried to displace him off his spot in isolation. His length allows him to make first significant contact, creating the necessary separation to control blockers, even generating occasional knockback when things are synced up perfectly. He’s very assignment-sound and very rarely finds himself in the wrong gap. His lock-peak-shed ability combined with his grip strength is promising and could be a legitimate strength for him as a pro. The Michigan State product does a nice job maintaining vision of the ball carrier through the rep, and as the season wore on, he flashed the ability to get off blocks with craftsmanship such as an arm-over to swim release.
His work against double teams was a bit more of a mixed bag where some of his worst reps were a result of him being caught off guard by a combo block mixed with him playing too high on contact. However, there were a couple examples where he was able to successfully split it by attacking the primary blocker and getting skinny whenever he felt pressure. He...
