The No. 1 precedence for NFL groups within the preseason is to get out of the video games with out main harm. The Pittsburgh Steelers might have failed with that one on Thursday evening towards the Carolina Panthers.
Defensive lineman Derrick Harmon, the staff’s first-round choose within the 2025 NFL Draft, needed to be carted to the locker room with a knee harm whereas additionally wanting visibly upset as he was taken again. The staff introduced nearly instantly that he could be out for the rest of the sport with a knee harm.
Head coach Mike Tomlin had no rapid replace at halftime, solely to say Harmon was nonetheless being evaluated.
Line of defense was a high precedence for the Steelers this offseason, particularly after their playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens the place they allowed almost 300 speeding yards to finish their season.
Together with Harmon, in addition they chosen Iowa’s Yahya Black on this 12 months’s class to assist attempt to beef up their line.
Harmon is predicted to play a serious function on this 12 months’s protection and was already in a beginning place. With star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward holding in as he tries to get a brand new contract from the staff, that places much more significance on Harmon’s capability to make an affect.
He has had a robust coaching camp, and after a quiet first preseason recreation, he actually took a giant leap ahead within the staff’s second recreation, recording a sack towards the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
If Heyward returns, and if Harmon’s harm will not be severe, the Steelers would have the potential to have a very sturdy defensive position with these two becoming a member of rising star Keeanu Benton. Proper now, although, these are plenty of “ifs,” particularly because it pertains to the supply for Heyward and Harmon for the staff’s season opener.
