After three seasons at Michigan State, Harmon transferred to Oregon for one last ride, and he exploded on the Ducks' defense. Harmon had 45 tackles, 11 for loss, five sacks, four pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.
At 6-foot-5, 330 pounds, Harmon just eats up space in the middle. He has a killer rip move that demolished college linemen. It didn't take long for Harmon to show himself to Steelers coaches; he was recently named a starter.
On Tuesday, Steelers' defensive line coach Karl Dunbar told reporters that the rookie is already taking reps with the first team and will be a starter for the upcoming season.
“He goes out there with the ones,” Dunbar said, via Nick Farabaugh of PennLive.com. “He’s our left starting defensive tackle. You can write that.”
The Steelers' 3-4 defense is loaded with talent. Harmon will be teamed up with Cameron Hayward and Keanu Benton on the front. That trio will give opposing offensive lines problems the entire season.
Those problems will open up more opportunities for the linebackers to get to the quarterback. T.J. Watt is hoping for a bounce back season after recording 11.5 sacks last year (as crazy as that sounds to be a down year). Watt hadn't recorded less than 13 sacks in a full season since his rookie campaign. Alex Highsmith should be primed for a great season if healthy, having recorded six sacks in just 11 games last year.
Harmon is clearly making a big impression on the coaching staff in camp, and if that can translate to game days, the Steelers' defense is in for a great year.
