Pittsburgh selected Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon with the 21st pick of the first round in the NFL draft Thursday night, the sixth year in a row the Ducks have had a first-round selection.
Harmon transferred from Michigan State last season and under the coaching of Tony Tuioti and Tosh Lupoi developed into a first-round talent. As a Duck he emerged as true disruptor and run stopper, piling up a career-high 45 tackles, five sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.
From Detroit, the 6-5, 311 inside menace earned Sporting News second-team All-America honors and second team All-Big Ten.
In Oregon's 32-31 win over Ohio State in October, Harmon turned the game around by stuffing a running play and ripping the ball away from Quinshon Judkins.
He follows Bo Nix (2023), Christian Gonzalez (2022), Kayvon Thibodeaux (2021), Penei Sewell (2020) and Justin Herbert (2019) as first-round NFL picks.
At No. 21, Harmon stands to sign a four-year contract worth $16.2 million.
Derrick Harmon was in shock after getting drafted No. 21 overall by the Steelers 🥹 pic.twitter.com/l1YIKpO8Bt
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 25, 2025
His selection tonight and the transformation he made in becoming a first-round talent just adds credibility to Oregon's efforts to land top defensive line recruits like Deuce Geralds, who is visiting for the spring game.