{"id":148814,"date":"2025-06-22T01:27:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T01:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/148814\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T01:27:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T01:27:20","slug":"lone-steelers-draft-pick-makes-projected-all-rookie-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/148814\/","title":{"rendered":"Lone Steelers Draft Pick Makes Projected All-Rookie Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Armed with just two selections in the first two days, it\u2019s no surprise to see the Pittsburgh Steelers not make a huge presence on NFL.com\u2019s recent projected 2025 All-Rookie Team. To have even one name on the list is notable, and first-round defensive lineman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/2025-nfl-all-rookie-team-projecting-14-instant-impact-newcomers-on-defense-special-teams\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">makes author Gennaro Filice\u2019s team<\/a>\u00a0well aware of the buzz on Harmon coming from the spring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTypically, this is the time of year when NOTHING is guaranteed. Coaches constantly stress that rookies \u2014 no matter how highly they\u2019re drafted \u2014 must earn their keep before even thinking about filling a starting slot. Apparently, though, the Steelers aren\u2019t doing that whole song and dance with Harmon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Filice refers to <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersdepot.com\/2025\/06\/derrick-harmon-already-seeing-starter-reps-says-coach\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DL Coach Karl Dunbar\u2019s comments<\/a> anointing Harmon the starter. Even as Mike Tomlin attempted to downplay those words, it\u2019s clear Pittsburgh isn\u2019t holding back their top rookie. Viewed as a top-ten talent who slid to No. 20 due to reported injury concerns, Harmon is an ideal scheme fit for the Steelers\u2019 3-4 system. Pittsburgh focused its draft picks on building up a front seven that wore down by season\u2019s end, spending two of the team\u2019s seven choices on the defensive line and another on outside linebacker Jack Sawyer.<\/p>\n<p>While Harmon will likely rotate in behind Cam Heyward and Keeanu Benton, he\u2019s poised to start at left defensive end in the Steelers\u2019 base front. With Heyward being 36 years old and the team reducing his snap count, Harmon will have plenty of reps to make an impact.<\/p>\n<p>Despite a deep defensive tackle class that saw several names taken in the first round, Harmon and Cleveland Browns DT Mason Graham were the two who made Filice\u2019s list. Harmon beat out the Arizona Cardinals\u2019 Walter Nolen and the Miami Dolphins\u2019 Kenneth Grant.<\/p>\n<p>Harmon is the first Steelers\u2019 rookie defensive lineman drafted in the first round since the team selected Heyward in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>No other Steelers made the list. RB Kaleb Johnson was the only other to have a semi-realistic chance but predictably lost out to the Las Vegas Raiders\u2019 Ashton Jeanty and Denver Broncos\u2019 RJ Harvey. Other notable names on the list include Tennessee Titans\u2019 QB Cam Ward, Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 OT Josh Simmons, and Atlanta Falcons\u2019 S Xavier Watts. Every AFC North team had at least one selection: S Malaki Starks for the Baltimore Ravens, LB Demetrius Knight Jr. for the Cincinnati Bengals, LB Carson Schwesinger and Graham for the Browns, and Harmon for the Steelers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Armed with just two selections in the first two days, it\u2019s no surprise to see the Pittsburgh Steelers&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[340,7,9852,6,15,57],"class_list":{"0":"post-148814","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-derrick-harmon","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-gennaro-filice","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-draft","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114724421816675236","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}