Player: DL Derrick Harmon
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Entering his second season, Derrick Harmon seems primed for a big year, and the coaches are preparing him for such.* After all, they invested in him as the anchor of their defensive line for the future. While Cam Heyward is still here, the future is now, or at least fast approaching.*
The Steelers’ first-round pick a year ago, Derrick Harmon had a strong rookie season. The only bugaboo was the injury bug, which seemed to bite him not once but twice. A preseason knee injury caused him to miss the first two games of his career. Later in the season, a different knee injury wiped out three more games.
Many cite Harmon’s run defense as an obvious plus, since the raw statistics bear it out. In the games that he missed, Pittsburgh’s opponents have more success running the ball against them. And he certainly had something to do with it. He is not only strong but also has good hand usage and coordination with his legs.
As a young player, of course, he is still growing, and the Steelers intend to address that. According to Mike DeFabo, the Steelers plan for Derrick Harmon to work with their OLB coach in order to expand his repertoire of pass rush moves. While he has natural ability there and already has a decent cache of moves, it’s an important area where they want to see him grow.
And of course, he doesn’t just have coaches from whom to learn. The Steelers have a strong peer-to-peer “coaching” network in the outside linebacker room. T.J. Watt taught Alex Highsmith, and later Nick Herbig learned under them. Now Jack Sawyer is learning from all three. And Derrick Harmon has Cam Heyward as his mentor.
But in Pittsburgh, as the heir apparent, Derrick Harmon has a lot to live up to. It’s why the Steelers are throwing everything they can at him, of course. But it will ultimately be up to him whether he lives up to it. And Year 2 is where we should really have the opportunity to assess what his future will look like.
With the 2026 offseason well underway and many moves made, we have stock to take. Already promisinga year of change, the Steelers are shaking things up. That is unavoidable, of course, when you gut the coaching staff. Mike Tomlin’s resignation has fundamentally changed this football team, including the players on the roster.
After a long season, the Steelers showed the ability to win the division and make the playoffs. But they also showed that their progress was minimal,since they made it no further. Two years in a row, with two different quarterbacks, they went 10-7 and lost in the Wild Card Round. The only differences are that they ended the season on a higher note and won the AFC North. But it didn’t help.
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