Going into this offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers knew they had to fix their run defense. It was one of their biggest issues to end the 2024 season, and their draft strategy showed they were committed to solving that. In Round 1, the Steelers drafted Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon, who should help boost their run defense this year. While quarterback was also a big need for them, insider Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette revealed that the Steelers had their eyes set on taking a defensive lineman in the first round.
“They had identified three guys: Walter Nolen, Kenneth Grant, and Derrick Harmon,” Dulac said Tuesday on The Rich Eisen Show. “I would say, of the three, Grant and Harmon would be the favorites. Of course, both of those others were off the board.
“But they knew they were going to take one of those three. If all three were there, it might’ve been a coin flip between Harmon and Grant. They got one of the guys they wanted. They had to get a defensive lineman.”
Nolen, Grant, and Harmon looked like the top three defensive linemen that could be available for the Steelers in Round 1. However, like Dulac says, Grant and Nolen were selected before the Steelers picked at 21. Therefore, it seems like Harmon was their top target left.
It also makes sense that Harmon and Grant were a notch above Nolen in the Steelers’ eyes. That seemed evident throughout the pre-draft process. The Steelers showed less interest in Nolen than in Grant or Harmon. However, it still sounds like they would’ve considered drafting Nolen if Grant and Harmon were off the board.
Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan sounded extremely happy to land Harmon, though. Compared to Cam Heyward, Harmon has some work to do to refine his game, but he looks extremely talented. He had injury concerns pop up leading into the draft, which likely hurt his stock in some teams’ eyes.
However, that was to the Steelers’ benefit. They landed one of their top options at one of their biggest positions of need. It remains to be seen what his NFL future holds, but Tomlin and Khan didn’t sound concerned about his medicals. While quarterback is still a question mark, the Steelers did their best to build up the rest of their roster. It’s tough to knock them for that.
