The Pittsburgh Steelers had been linked to Derrick Harmon throughout the pre-draft process, and with the 21st pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, they landed the Oregon defensive lineman. A player who models his game after Cameron Heyward, Mike Tomlin said Harmon has “Steeler DNA.”
“Like Omar said, he has Steeler DNA. For us, it starts inside and up front, and this is a guy that’s capable of dominating that space against the run and the pass,” Tomlin said Thursday night during a press conference via the team’s YouTube channel after the pick was made. “I just think he’s been impressive at every step of the process for us.
“His tape was impressive, we had great visits with him in Indy, he came to Pittsburgh, we had a great day with him. With each interaction, we all got more and more comfortable that he was our type of a guy.”
General manager Omar Khan said Harmon “checked a lot of boxes for us.”
Harmon has the length that the Steelers covet, measuring in with 34 3/8-inch arms at the NFL Combine and coming in at 6044 and 313 pounds. He was a player whose traits and tools align with what the Steelers look for, and it makes sense that Tomlin and Khan felt he would be a natural fit with the Steelers.
With Pittsburgh’s run defense struggling in its playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens, addressing the trenches was a paramount — and even more so with Cameron Heyward close to retirement as he’ll be 36 years old this season.
Also, the Steelers released Larry Ogunjobi in March and didn’t meaningfully upgrade their defensive line in free agency. They added depth pieces like Daniel Ekuale and Esezi Otomewo but no clear-cut starter. Derrick Harmon can learn behind Heyward while still playing a role as a rookie, and Heyward is the perfect player for him to learn from given their similarities.
In drafting Harmon, the Steelers passed on QB Shedeur Sanders, a player there was a lot of recent buzz about them taking, but Harmon is a player the team clearly had its eyes on throughout the pre-draft process. Defensive line was the Steelers’ biggest need, and they were able to address it in the first round with a player who they feel is an ideal fit.
Even in a deep defensive line class, the Steelers didn’t risk missing out on an impact player at their biggest need, and Harmon enters an ideal situation to learn and develop as a player.
