On the heels of the 2025 NFL draft, I wanted to look at and provide some of first-round DL Derrick Harmon’s best stats from the 2024 college football season. The goal is to see that if all goes well, what the Pittsburgh Steelers could be acquiring at a big position of need, and will include double-dip pick Yayha Black and the entire draft IDL class (31 qualifiers) for context.
First, let’s look at some impressive run defense stats from Harmon. Here are solo run tackles, along with run tackles for a loss in 2024:
Harmon was one of the best balances of the two stats. He had 25 solo run tackles, which is third-best among drafted IDL. The quantity was certainly there, and added ten run tackles for loss, which ranked fifth. Being in the top five in both is impressive production, no doubt.
This is more encouraging than the early offseason study I did on what draft d-lineman makes most sense for Pittsburgh. That revealed an issue with missed tackles, at the fifth-worst 19.4 missed tackle rate against the run. He did have a stronger 10.3 number in his last 2023 season at Michigan State, but a similarly concerning 18.5 rate in 2022.
Here’s to hoping that isn’t an issue that carries over with Harmon, considering similar problems from the position last year in Pittsburgh. If so, this will, knock on wood, mesh well with his splash playmaking abilities.
How about pass rushing? Harmon’s pressure and hurry production were also top five in this class:
Once again, great value compared to his peers. Outside of new Buccaneer Elijah Roberts, who played EDGE most but fit the Steelers’ IDL size mold, Harmon was once again one of the best among drafted defensive linemen.
He ranked second in the group with 38 pressures and 23 hurries, which tied for third. While run defense was the Steelers’ clearest priority this offseason, strong production in both facets of the game is excellent to see on Harmon’s resume.
Black, Pittsburgh’s fifth-round selection, was on the other end of the spectrum as a pass rusher. He had the worst numbers of the draft class, with six pressures (T-least) and four hurries, which was dead last. This reinforces his limitations and reputation as a large run defender in the middle.
While that’s true, we saw on the first visual that Black’s production against the run wasn’t awe-inspiring in 2024, with 16 solo run tackles (T-16th) and six run tackles for loss (T-13th) out of the 31 qualifiers.
So, the potential Harmon could reach is very apparent. Hopefully, he will carry over his playmaking prowess regardless of the situation to the Black and Gold. In the best-case scenario, Pittsburgh acquired a great and one of the most versatile skillsets at arguably their biggest position of need.
