First-round DL Derrick Harmon had a strong debut for the Steelers last week, highlighted by notching his first career sack. As we’ve already talked about, that puts him in a pretty narrow category in Steelers history, which includes T.J. Watt. Of course, recording a sack in your debut doesn’t guarantee long-term success, but it’s not a bad way to start.
Nursing an injury he suffered in the final preseason game, Harmon missed the first two games of the regular season. After just one full practice, he played against the Patriots, and didn’t look out of place. Although they had him on a pitch count, he still played a few dozen snaps—pointing up how much the defense was on the field. But he impressed his teammates with his work, including the guy next to him.
“He did great”, OLB Nick Herbig said of Harmon, via the Steelers’ website. “Coming in especially off of injury, and he was out for four or five weeks. Just to come in like that and make an instant impact, you don’t see that a lot from rookies. So I’m super excited for him and his future”.
Although he officially only recorded one tackle and one sack, Derrick Harmon played well, and in our assessment, looked the part. As he ratchets up his conditioning, he should see the field even more, and hopefully have a greater impact.
Of course, anybody can look great or terrible in one game, so there is still a long road ahead for Harmon. Although they drafted him in the first round, not every first-round pick lives up to the billing. Unless he proves otherwise, though, the Steelers are right to be optimistic about his future.
Derrick Harmon had a quiet preseason debut, about which even he expressed disappointment. He looked much more solid a week later, however, which included recording a sack. In the final preseason game, he suffered a knee injury that caused considerable concern, and an astonishing amount of alliteration.
While test results allayed initial fears, Harmon still had to wait two weeks for his debut. And he didn’t disappoint, based on the testament of all of his coaches and many teammates. But the Steelers still have a long way to go as a whole on defense, and he needs to be essential in that improvement.
Pittsburgh drafted Derrick Harmon envisioning him as a future cornerstone player for the franchise. Right now, he is playing with Cam Heyward, but in a year or two, he’ll need to be the next Cam Heyward. Needless to say, we can’t make any fair determination after one game. After all, Heyward himself took a couple years to solidify himself. But if Harmon establishes himself as a reliable starter right now, nobody’s going to complain.
