Pittsburgh Steelers first-round pick Derrick Harmon has an apparent medical concern that was reported late in the pre-draft process. According to 102.5 WDVE’s Mike Prisuta, we now know more about it.
“According to league source Derrick Harmon’s Combine MRI revealed partial rotator cuff tear and a labral tear. Per source, multiple teams attached ‘risk’ designation to Harmon’s medical evaluation,” Prisuta wrote on X. “Expectation was he might slide a few spots as a result but wouldn’t drop out of 1R.”
So two partial tears is what’s now being reported. For what it’s worth, there was a pretty large delay in Harmon getting to the podium at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, which is usually a sure sign of trouble in the medical evaluations.
Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan were asked about this in the press conference following the pick and said they are extremely comfortable with Harmon’s medicals.
Harmon also said there are no concerns when he was asked about it during his call with the media last night.
If anything, the injury concern may have helped the Steelers to land Harmon, whom some had projected as a top-15 pick.
It’s important to keep in mind that the Steelers had Harmon in for a pre-draft visit and they had access to all the Combine medicals like every other team. The team doctors always weigh in during the evaluation process and would have raised red flags if there were true concerns.
The Steelers have drafted two players with medical concerns in recent years and neither have had issues since joining the team. Darnell Washington had some supposed medical flags that caused him to fall to the third round. The Combine screening process reportedly revealed that Payton Wilson was missing an ACL, but the Steelers still felt comfortable taking him and he was very durable in his rookie season.
Prisuta’s report indicates that it presented a risk, but Harmon wasn’t being bumped out of the first round in the minds of NFL teams. That tells me there is no major concern here, and the Steelers seemed to confirm that in the post-pick press conference.
