{"id":726937,"date":"2026-02-03T19:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T19:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/726937\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T19:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T19:11:15","slug":"steelers-pass-on-derrick-harmon-for-division-rival-in-2025-nfl-draft-re-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/726937\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers Pass on Derrick Harmon for Division Rival in 2025 NFL Draft Re-Do"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"categories\"><a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/nfl-draft\/2025-nfl-draft\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">2025 NFL Draft<\/a>\u2022<a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/steelers-news\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"788\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/54013998513_bcb7bf265b_k.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium tpd-force-16x9-aspect-ratio wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"sync\" loading=\"eager\"   fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham following a 2024 game. Maize and Blue Nation\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>As a rookie, <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/derrick-harmon\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Derrick Harmon<\/a> helped reinforce the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 defensive front. If the 2025 NFL Draft was done over, however, ESPN believes the Steelers would have chosen somebody else in the first round.<\/p>\n<p>After the Cleveland Browns passed on Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham with the No. 2 overall choice \u2014 they didn\u2019t trade down in this revision \u2014 the Steelers plucked him at No. 21.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a toss-up between Harmon and Graham because fortifying the defensive line is still the best use of the Steelers\u2019 pick,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/47736817\/2025-nfl-draft-redraft-64-new-picks-first-second-round-ward-shough-dart\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Brooke Pryor wrote<\/a>. \u201cThough Harmon made a noticeable difference when healthy, Graham, a PFWA All-Rookie team selection, would have been a slight upgrade after starting 17 games for the Browns. He had seven tackles for loss and 49 total tackles this season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Derrick Harmon, who the Steelers took with their first-round pick, slid to the second round and was taken No. 56 overall by the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"788\" height=\"436\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/10-16-2025-Steelers-v-Bengals-6854.jpg\" alt=\"Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt\" class=\"wp-image-147661\"  \/>Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Derrick Harmon lines up against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 16, 2025. \u2014 Ed Thompson \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n<p>Steelers mainstay Cam Heyward showered Harmon with praise before they took on the Baltimore Ravens in a do-or-die Week 18 clash this past season. Harmon played in 12 games, starting eight, and racked up 27 total tackles and three sacks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDerrick\u2019s definitely ahead of the game,\u201d Heyward said. \u201cHe plays with strong hands, understands the playbook a lot better than a lot of rookies, and I just think he\u2019s got a good feel for the game this early on. It definitely helps having him out there. It makes our rotation a lot bigger and he can disrupt a lot of the game, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned In This Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/derrick-harmon\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Derrick Harmon<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/mason-graham\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Mason Graham<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/pittsburgh-steelers\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/tag\/steelers\/\" rel=\"tag nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2025 NFL Draft\u2022Steelers News Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham following a 2024 game. Maize and Blue Nation As&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":726938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[340,7,579,6,520,57,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-726937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-derrick-harmon","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-mason-graham","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-pittsburgh","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","14":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","15":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116008288198618858","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726937","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=726937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}