Entering the 2025 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a significant need in the trenches defensively, specifically at defensive end opposite All-Pro Cameron Heyward.
Consider that hole filled, thanks to their selection of Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon at No. 21 overall Thursday night.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and GM Omar Khan stated during the post-selection press conference that they got their guy, and for longtime NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay, that’s exactly what happened as the Steelers landed a “damn good football player” who slots in perfectly next to Heyward.
“You know who Derrick Harmon tailored his game to, or studied to try to become a better football player with? Cam Hayward. Isn’t that cool? Your idol, the guy that you’re watching tape on, the guy that you want to become. You just go get drafted by the team where that guy is now,” McShay said during his first-round livestream on his YouTube page. “And it also happens to be one of the coolest dudes of all time. And we’ll bring him in under the arm. Like, ‘Let’s go, bud, ’cause I can’t play forever.’ Although it fricking feels like it doesn’t it? He’s still playing at a high level. And now you got T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward, these veterans helping you refine some of your moves, your hands and the way you play.
“And here’s the thing I love about Derrick Harmon, who’s six-four and a half, 313 pounds. He’s got some of the longest arms of any — I think it’s the longest arms of any interior defensive lineman in this class. His interviews were awesome. There were some reports leading up about some durability stuff. I hadn’t heard a lot of that, but obviously Pittsburgh’s comfortable with it and I’m glad that they are because this is a damn good football player and it’s one of [Steve] Muench’s favorites. “
Harmon’s fit with the Steelers is a very good one. He models his game after Heyward and plays with a real edge and physicality, too, which is what the Steelers needed in a major way in the trenches opposite Heyward.
Last season at Oregon, Harmon led the FBS in pressures for an interior defensive lineman, and checked a lot of the boxes the Steelers were looking for at the position.
Tomlin stated that Harmon has “Steeler DNA” and Khan said he was the player the Steelers wanted all along, which fits the Steelers’ focus of building through the trenches, adding physicality with the big men up front.
Harmon brings great physicality, size and athleticism to the trenches, and projects to be the Steelers’ next building block along their defensive line.
There are some medical concerns with Harmon, specifically his shoulder, but that all checked out for the Steeelers, and his addition should help Pittsburgh get back to its physical, nasty style of play.
