Derrick Harmon Could ‘Contribute Early And On All Three Downs’, DeFabo Believes

The Steelers didn’t draft Derrick Harmon in the first round to sit—or just to stuff the run, either. They drafted Harmon because he is a big man with a diverse skill set and the athleticism to contribute quickly. And quickly he may, suggests The Athletic reporter Mike DeFabo, who covers the Steelers.

Speaking on 93.7 The Fan, he said of the Steelers’ pass rush, “Derrick Harmon, while he is a defensive lineman who’s stout against the run, he also led college football last year [among] interior defensive linemen with 55 pressures.

“That gives [Harmon] the possibility to contribute early and on all three downs. Because when the Steelers go to their sub-packages, which they’re in about 80 percent of the time, there are only two interior defensive linemen, and you take your nose tackle off the field. He should be a three-down type of guy.”

With the Steelers having released Larry Ogunjobi, Harmon would almost have to be that type of guy. Of course, especially given that it’s the Steelers, they could go in other directions. They could start Isaiahh Loudermilk initially, even Dean Lowry, or DeMarvin Leal.

As you might recall, the pre-draft media routinely connected the Steelers to Derrick Harmon. When it was their turn to draft and Harmon was still out there, you knew exactly what was going to happen. I probably couldn’t even count the number of national mock drafts that put Harmon in Pittsburgh.

And now he’s here, and he’s working toward contributing sooner rather than later. Of course, defensive linemen can only do so much at this time of year, the pads lying dormant until training camp. But Harmon can show off his athleticism at this point, and he has.

Despite having T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Cameron Heyward, the Steelers still suffered overall in the pass rush. They ranked tied for 16th in sack totals, for example, finishing with just 40. They also finished 17th in pressure rate at 22 percent. Having another dynamic interior pass rusher like Derrick Harmon could really help that.

But they have to get him up and running early, as soon as possible, because they really don’t have alternatives. Even if they were to play, say, a Loudermilk or Lowry, they wouldn’t offer much in the pass rush. Harmon is the only guy in that group behind Heyward who has any juice. And they could use an extra squeeze right about now.