Evaluating the Steelers Draft Class: 1st Round Pick Derrick Harmon
We are roughly two months removed from the 2025 NFL Draft, but not much has happened to move the needle one way or the other on the Steelers selections since that time. With all emotion and draft-day dreams laid away, now is an ideal time to give an honest breakdown and evaluation of the Steelers draft class.
Over the next week or two, Jeremy Betz and I will give you our personal analysis and opinions regarding each selection the Steelers made in the 2025 NFL Draft. We will put into account each player’s strengths, weaknesses, fit with the team and inside the organization, and the players the Steelers passed on in order to select said player. This will help us create a sensible, logical argument that can give you, the reader, reasonable insight and expectations for these rookies as they enter Year 1 in the NFL.
Today, we begin with Derrick Harmon.
Derrick Harmon | DL | Oregon
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 310 lbs
Wilbar’s Big Board Rank: 21
Notable Accomplishment: AP Second Team All-American
Betz: Harmon was one of my favorite prospects in the entire draft, landing at my 16th overall player in the class. The selection proved to be solid value in my opinion, and the Steelers land a player who makes them better in year 1 and has perennial pro-bowl starter upside as the heir-apparent to Cam Heyward. Harmon has elite quickness and explosive hands for his size, and his pass-rush ability from the interior is what stood out in the Draft process. He’s more polished as a run defender than he’s given credit for, anchoring well against double teams and getting quick penetration to disrupt the backfield. With 4 compensatory picks for 2026 already projected after the team’s losses in Free Agency, I felt that landing a Top 20 prospect at a position of need was worth sticking and picking at the 21st overall slot.
Betz’s Grade: A+
Wilbar: My top defensive line target for the Steelers, Kenneth Grant, Jr., was already off the board; and the other prospect I would have loved in Black and Gold, Jahdae Barron, was taken one pick ahead of the Steelers by the Denver Broncos. If I were the GM, I would have done everything in my power to trade back and acquire more 2026 and 2027 draft capital, but if no trade-down options were available for the Steelers, I cannot complain about this pick. Derrick Harmon displayed tremendous growth after transferring from Michigan State to Oregon. He learned how to use his hands much more effectively, which, in turn, helped him disengage from blocks more consistently. His athleticism is top-notch, and his long body type fits the mold of what the Steelers like in their 5-technique defensive linemen. The Steelers need a long-term replacement for Cameron Heyward, and I believe that after playing alongside him for a season or two, he will be fully capable to fill those incredibly big shoes.
Wilbar’s Grade: A-
Your Thoughts: Leave them in the comment section below so we can compare and discuss!
Harmon fits the scheme to a ‘T’ and has growth to go while already being a ‘great to elite’ athlete. Heck, he even LOOKS like a young Cam. Size, talent and upside at a position of DESPERATE need.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Outside of Cam and Dancing Bear, the DL had the same issue that the WR room had: too many #2’s, and not enough bodies challenging to be #1 to push starters and other backups UP the chart.
It was the BPA at a position of need, which happens to fit the scheme perfectly, and I myself only had one other guy at that position rated higher who I wanted more (Grant).
When you look up the type of player that the Steelers typically draft in the ‘NFL Draft Encyclopedia’, it’s ‘TJ Watt’ types at the OLB position, and guys like Harmon at the DL position.
Coming from the Steelers and how they operate, that’s probably the highest praise you can receive as a Steeler…
… well, besides Troy’s HOF admission of the ultimate Steelers player: When the Black and Gold legends come up and say to you ‘You could have played with us…’
a true Pittsburgh Steelers fan, since the 70’s Derrick Harman shuold do very well because being that Derrick Harman is a rookie nobody has film on Derrick Harman yet and the other teams offensive linemen will have their hands full stopping Cameron Heyward , Keeanu Benton, and OLB’s Alex Highsmith, T.J. Watt, and ILB’s Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson
Harmon