Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers landed a haul when it comes to pass-rush potential in the 2025 NFL Draft, at least according to one analyst.
ESPN’s Seth Walder produces a model that attempts to forecast the sack totals for each player in the draft class over the first three years of their career, using a combination of college stats, draft grades and positional data. The model does not take into account the drafting team.
Let's try this again:
Sack forecast for this year's draft prospects!
This model projects each player's total sacks over years 1-3 in their NFL careers. It's intended as a pre-draft model but I had a bug I didn't manager to squash until today. pic.twitter.com/dpNBELQWmu
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) April 30, 2025
Unsurprisingly, Walder has No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter out of Penn State as the top dog, projected to record 15.5 sacks over his first three seasons. But the Steelers group of defensive linemen aren’t far behind.
Steelers defensive tackle Derrick Harmon is sixth on the list and the highest-rated interior defensive lineman at 10.0 projected sacks. Cleveland Browns No. 5 overall selection Mason Graham is the second-best interior lineman at 7.8 sacks.
Harmon was the seventh defensive lineman drafted, behind Carter, Graham, Mykel Williams, Kenneth Grant, Walter Nolen and Shemar Stewart. Williams, a Georgia edge rusher who was taken at No. 11 by the San Francisco 49ers, is projected to get 8.4 sacks. Grant, a nose tackle out of Michigan who went to the Miami Dolphins at No. 13 is projected for just 5.8 sacks.
Nolen (Ole Miss, No. 16, Arizona Cardinals, 6.7 sacks) and Stewart (Texas A&M, No. 17, Cincinnati Bengals, 9.2 sacks) were also drafted before Harmon, but projected to do worse over the first three seasons of their careers.
In fact, Steelers outside linebacker Jack Sawyer, who the team selected in the fourth round out of Ohio State, is also expected to out-pace some of those first-rounders. Sawyer is predicted to have 7.9 sacks from 2025-27 with the Steelers. That’s 10th on the list, despite being the 30th defensive lineman drafted in the class.
Harmon had a career-high five sacks with Oregon last season, while Sawyer broke out for nine sacks with the Buckeyes in 2024.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Rookies Look Like Pass-Rush Monsters
