Welcome to the final edition of Parsons’ Profiles, the NFL Draft countdown series where I examine the professional future of one Duck per day until the 2025 NFL Draft begins on April 24. Yesterday, I pondered the future for offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. Today, I’ll look at where defensive tackle Derrick Harmon could land in the first round of tomorrow’s draft.
Harmon graduated from Detroit, Michigan’s Loyola High School in 2021. Despite standing a hulking 6’4.5 and 359 pounds in high school, Harmon was only a three-star collegiate prospect. 247Sports Composite ranked him only the class’ 119th-best defensive lineman.
Harmon received nine collegiate offers and ultimately chose to stay near home as a Michigan State Spartan. He appeared in all twelve games for the Spartans as a redshirt freshman, starting five. He finished the year with 28 total tackles, two sacks, a fumble recovery and a pass deflection.
As a redshirt sophomore, he started 10 games and led Michigan State’s defensive line with 40 total tackles. Harmon also tallied 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and another pass deflection.
Despite his increased workload, Harmon chose to enter the transfer portal on Dec. 4, 2023. He visited Auburn University, Ohio State and Oregon before newly-hired Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith convinced him to return to East Lansing on Dec. 27.
It didn’t last. Harmon reentered the portal on April 23, 2024. He transferred to Oregon on May 3, citing an esteemed coaching staff and hardworking program mindset as factors which influenced his decision.
“You’ve got guys putting in extra work here,” Harmon said at Oregon’s summer media day. “Guys are not just leaving the facility after they get done with the mandatory. Guys are trying to get the unrequired here.”
Harmon’s decision to transfer paid off immediately, as he tallied 1.5 sacks in the Ducks’ Week 1 win over the University of Idaho. Harmon would go on to start all 14 games as a B-gap defensive tackle, recording 45 total tackles, five sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Those numbers – all career highs – earned him second-team All-Big Ten honors as a redshirt junior.
Harmon led the nation’s interior defenders with 55 pressures. His Pro Football Focus (PFF) pass rush grade of 86.3 was tied for the nation’s fourth-best at defensive tackle, and his run defense and overall defense grades were also very good at 80.5 and 83.9 respectively.
However, Harmon struggled with tackling throughout the season. His PFF tackling grade was a truly awful 29.3, the second-worst mark among Duck defenders with more than 40 snaps.
“Though he led FBS interior linemen in pressures, he also led the position in missed tackles (12),” wrote The Athletic’s Dane Brugler. “Even the smallest improvements in his backfield finishing ability would have resulted in double-digit sacks.”
Although he struggled statistically as a tackler in 2024, Harmon also had some moments of run-stopping brilliance.
During the first quarter of Oregon’s Oct. 12 matchup with then-undefeated Ohio State, Harmon fought across the face of Buckeyes guard Tegra Tshabola and towards a developing run lane. As running back Quinshon Judkins approached the line of scrimmage, Harmon powered past Tshabola, latched directly onto the football with both hands and simply ripped it away from Judkins for the turnover.
The play exemplified the kind of explosive interior penetration which makes Harmon an expected first-round pick.
Harmon also impressed at the NFL combine, running a blazing 4.95-second 40-yard dash despite measuring in at 6 ‘4.5 and 311 pounds. His size, explosiveness and athleticism mean he could conceivably play anywhere from a 1-technique to a 5-technique, which makes him an even more enticing prospect.
Legendary NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. predicted Harmon would land with the Pittsburgh Steelers in back-to-back mock drafts on March 18 and April 8. The Steelers hold Pick No. 21 in tomorrow’s draft, and are looking for help across the defensive front. They hosted Harmon on a Top-30 visit on April 9.
Personally, I think Pick No. 21 is a realistic spot to see Harmon taken. I think his range extends from the middle to the end of the first round, and I’d be pretty shocked to see him fall into the second round given the amount of pre-draft attention he’s gotten.
Harmon has had Top-30 visits with four other teams: The Detroit Lions, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns.
The Browns and the Jets hold Picks No. 2 and No. 7, respectively, and won’t pick again until the second round (picks No. 33 and No. 42, respectively). I think that puts both teams outside Harmon’s mid-late first round window, though either could conceivably trade back into the first for him if they miss out on top defensive tackle prospect Mason Graham of Michigan.
The Vikings, who hold Pick No. 25, added defensive linemen Jonathan Allen (6’3, 300 pounds) and Javon Hargrave (6’2, 305 pounds) in free agency this offseason. However, both are veterans who missed the majority of last season with injury. Harmon would give the Vikings a versatile boost of youth on their defensive front.
Meanwhile, the Lions hold Pick No. 28 and are looking to build around two young stars in defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and defensive tackle Alim McNeill. Harmon’s diverse combination of size and speed make him a flexible option, and the interior pressure he could provide alongside McNeill would make Hutchinson an even more dangerous threat off the edge.
Wherever Harmon goes, he’ll see immediate use, likely as a starter. His ability to generate interior pressure cannot be ignored, and he’s a little development away from being a legitimate weapon on the defensive front.
Tomorrow, the 2025 NFL Draft will begin, and fans will see college football’s best and brightest find their professional homes. Last year’s draft saw a record eight Ducks selected, but this year’s class could certainly break that record.
Below is a full recap of how I graded the 10 Ducks I reviewed on Parsons’ Profiles:
Ajani Cornelius: Fourth- to seventh-round pick
Jamaree Caldwell: Fourth-round pick
Jordan James: Fourth- or fifth-round pick
Jeffrey Bassa: Third- or fourth-round pick
Dillon Gabriel: Fifth- to seventh-round pick
Tez Johnson: Fourth- to sixth-round pick
Jordan Burch: Second- or third-round pick
Terrance Ferguson: Second- or third-round pick
Josh Conerly Jr.: Fringe first-round pick
Derrick Harmon: First-round pick
