Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Derrick Harmon got on the board early in the team’s second preseason game with a sack, the first of his NFL career. With it being the preseason, it’s an unofficial sack, and Harmon is eager to bring down opposing quarterbacks in the regular season.
“First sack as a rookie man, it felt good. It’s the preseason, so ready to get that one in the regular season,” Harmon said after the game via the team’s YouTube channel.
Harmon had 55 pressures last season at Oregon, and his pass-rush ability is a trait that was attractive to the Steelers, who made him their first-round pick. He didn’t make much of an impact in the team’s preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, but it didn’t take much time for him to make his presence felt in his first game at Acrisure Stadium.
In total, Harmon played 23 snaps and assisted on two other tackles outside of his sack. It’s a good sign for the Steelers that Harmon is making an early impact when it comes to getting after the quarterback. His presence could help the team get back to being among the league leaders in sacks.
Even if Harmon himself isn’t finishing the play, his pass-rush arsenal and ability to get into the backfield could help players like T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward and Alex Highsmith rack up sacks. Harmon showed tonight he’s more than capable of finishing the play himself, and that should keep him on the field a lot as a rookie.
It didn’t take long for him to get on the stat sheet with a sack in the preseason, and he’s eager to do the same thing when the games start to count. The Steelers travel to New York to play the Jets in Week 1, and Harmon is hungry to make his presence felt and record his first official sack. If he can become a consistent pass-rush threat for the Steelers, it will elevate their defense as a whole and help the Steelers’ front become even better.
It’s a unit that’s already considered among the best in the league, and the addition of Harmon could take that to another level. While the goal is for him to be the eventual successor to Heyward, he can do a lot of damage playing alongside the veteran for however long Heyward has left. Those two, as well as Keeanu Benton, should make the Steelers dangerous defensively, especially if Harmon can keep bringing down the quarterback.
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