The Pittsburgh Steelers have no shortage of needs on their 2025 roster, and there are several directions this team could head in early in the NFL Draft. One of their most pressing issues since early in the 2024 season has been the interior defensive line.
Pittsburgh's defensive tackle group consists of a nearly 36-year-old Cameron Heyward and Keenu Benton (who has largely played out of position in his first two NFL seasons). But what they had simply wasn't good enough.
In the Steelers' playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Derrick Henry and company ran down the throat of the defense as Pittsburgh allowed 299 rushing yards in the ugly Wild Card defeat. To ensure this doesn't happen again, adding defensive line help is a must.
Thankfully, the Steelers could find an answer soon. On April 9, Joe Rutter of TribLive reported that the Pittsburgh Steelers are hosting a top-30 pre-draft visit with former Oregon Ducks defensive lineman Derrick Harmon. Harmon turned heads with a remarkable performance at the NFL Combine, and the visit suggests he is squarely on Pittsburgh's first-round radar.
The Pittsburgh Steelers met with DL Derrick Harmon for a Top-30 visit ahead of the NFL Draft
If you follow the Pittsburgh Steelers closely, you know that they rarely take a player in the first round of the NFL Draft that they didn't meet with during the pre-draft process. During the Kevin Cobert-Mike Tomlin era from 2007 to 2022, this pretty much meant that Pittsburgh's brass needed to be on hand for a player's Pro Day in order for them to be considered in the first round.
Now that Colbert has passed the general manager torch to Omar Khan (and assistant GM Andy Weidl), the Steelers have already bucked this trend. In the 2024 NFL Draft, Pittsburgh valued the pre-draft visit over the Pro Day meeting—selecting Washington offensive tackle Troy Fautanu in Round 1.
This is great news for their recent visit, as Pittsburgh's decision-makers were not on hand to watch Harmon at Oregon's Pro Day. At 6'4 1/2'' and 313 pounds with a massive 83 3/4'' wingspan, Harmon has a prototype frame to be a versatile interior defender (in the mold of Cam Heyward and former Steeler Stephon Tuitt).
Harmon is a phenomenal athlete, to boot. He blazed at the Combine with a 4.95 40-yard dash, and his speed and explosion show up often on film. The high-ceiling defensive tackle isn't guaranteed to fall to Pittsburgh with the 21st overall pick, as a team like the Cincinnati Bengals will be lurky, but this is the pre-draft visit we all wanted to see.
Now, we'll wait and see if the Steelers can make it happen on draft day.
