With their first-round draft pick this year, the Pittsburgh Steelers aimed to bolster their defensive line. Oregon’s Derrick Harmon is the newest Steeler, and he should help shore up of the team’s greatest weaknesses. Last year, their run defense wasn’t good enough down the stretch. However, leading up to the draft, there were medical concerns about Harmon. Former NFL general manager Ran Carthon revealed Friday what he knows about Harmon’s injury.
“Pittsburgh obviously is comfortable with the medical,” Carthon said on the With the First Pick podcast. “Some of the medical information that I was able to find out or hear about, the guy, he’ll be fine. He’s a high-risk guy. He’s a high risk. Not high risk enough for you to take him off the board, but he’s a high risk for longevity.”
Before the draft, a report surfaced that Harmon is dealing with a shoulder injury. Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin made it clear that they have no issues with that, though. They felt comfortable enough with it to stick at 21 and select Harmon.
However, the latest report says that Harmon is dealing with a partial rotator cuff tear and a labral tear. Apparently, that caused some teams to attach risk to Harmon, although he wasn’t expected to fall out of the first round.
According to Carthon, Harmon’s injury isn’t a huge issue right now. However, it could apparently impact how long he plays in the NFL. It sounds like a different situation compared to Payton Wilson last year, for example. There were reports that Wilson doesn’t have an ACL, which made him a medical red flag for some teams. That caused him to fall all the way down to the bottom of the third round.
That wasn’t the case for Harmon. While that shoulder injury might have scared off some teams, the Steelers weren’t one of them. Harmon himself also said that his health is not a problem.
We’ll see if reports about what Harmon’s injury actually is are confirmed. Hopefully, it doesn’t impact his play this season. Tomlin and Khan didn’t seem very worried about that, though. If they feel comfortable with Harmon’s medicals, then there shouldn’t be too much concern.
