He was one of the leading pass rushers in college football last season at Oregon among all interior defensive linemen, generating 55 pressures for the Ducks, but that pass rush prowess hadn’t shown up just yet for Pittsburgh Steelers first-round rookie defensive tackle Derrick Harmon.
Until now.
Harmon leaned into his power Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, using his bull rush to power through Tampa Bay rookie guard Ben Scott and drop quarterback Kyle Trask for the sack.
After playing 32 snaps in the preseason opener last Saturday in Jacksonville and [not having much of an impact](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/08/andy-weidl-likes-early-returns-from-derrick-harmon-yahya-black/), Harmon didn’t take much time against the Buccaneers to make his presence known.
A powerful player who models his game after Steelers All-Pro Cameron Heyward, Harmon tapped into some of that Heyward tape, putting Scott on skates.
Last season at Oregon, Harmon generated 55 pressures, using his power and athleticism to get after quarterbacks, becoming a dynamic, disruptive force in the middle of its defense.
The Steelers believe he can be that guy in Pittsburgh after drafting him No. 21 overall in April. Harmon came on strong during training camp, putting together some good practices late, showing off his pass-rush abilities that the Steelers are so high on.
Despite the pressure generated in college, Harmon had just 8.5 career sacks at Michigan State and Ohio State. [Finishing those pressures](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/06/derrick-harmon-spending-offseason-training-hard-with-pass-rush-specialist/) at the next level is a goal of Harmon’s in his rookie season and based on what he did Saturday night with his first sack, he’s taking a positive step toward that.