Steelers electrifying rookie projected to win prestigious NFL award

With NFL minicamps concluding, the talented team of football experts at ESPN made their early 2025 predictions for this year's rookie class, and Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Derrick Harmon made the list.

Experts were asked to weigh in with their predictions for end-of-the-year superlatives. While it was easy for some experts to peg Abdul Carter as the future Defensive Rookie of the Year, Seth Walder is all in on Harmon for the DROY award in 2025.

“Derrick Harmon, DT, Steelers.”Walder writes. “Pass rushing wins awards, and Harmon had the second-highest pressure rate at defensive tackle in the FBS last season. He’ll also get less attention next to Cam Heyward, TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig.”

Harmon's rookie season is a tough projection. Though the combination of size and athletic traits is phenomenal for the defensive tackle position, he's a bit of a one-year wonder when it comes to production and played just one season with the Oregon Ducks after three seasons at Michigan State.

Harmon was brought in to be the future of the defensive line, not necessarily the present. With Cameron Heyward and Keeanu Benton expected to soak up most of the subpackage reps among Pittsburgh's interior defenders, it's tough to predict that Harmon will be the defensive rookie of the year. But Walder is a believer in the talent.

The Pittsburgh Steelers could have a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate in Derrick Harmon

At 6'4 1/2'' and 313 pounds with long arms and 4.95 speed at the NFL Combine, Derrick Harmon has an exceptionally rare blend of size and explosion. This jumps off the screen on film, as the big man can get after the quarterback like nobody's business. After earning 55 pressures as a senior in 2024, it's not hard to believe that Harmon's disruptive presence in the backfield could turn heads during his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Harmon loves football and is eager and willing to do whatever his coaches ask of him. This is exactly what you want to hear from a 21-year-old trench player who hopes to be a foundational building block to the organization. However, Harmon's usage in 2025 will ultimately determine his chances of bringing home a prestigious award like the Defensive Rookie of the Year.

We know that the Steelers plan to use Harmon often alongside Heyward and Benton in their base 3-4 defense, but if he can start carving out a role in sub-packages, there will be a real shot for him to produce. Finding the field on third downs and obvious passing situations will allow him to play to his strengths and will increase his ceiling of production as a rookie.

Like Walder pointed out, the attention from the opposing offense will be on players like Heyward and T.J. Watt. This could leave Harmon widely unaccounted for, and the big man has the skill set to make opposing offenses pay.

The Pittsburgh Steelers just wrapped up rookie minicamp in shorts, so we don't want to overreact to anything we've seen from Derrick Harmon so far. Once we get into the summer, we'll have a better idea of what his role could look like in 2025. But if there are NFL experts picking Harmon to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year award over Abdul Carter, that's really saying something.