Steelers 1st-round pick Harmon (knee) carted off

22.08.2025, 04:29 espn.com

Steelers first-round pick Derrick Harmon was carted off the field after sustaining a knee injury in the team's final preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night.

Harmon appeared to sustain the injury as he tried to muscle around guard Brandon Walton. Walton shoved him to the ground as Harmon turned the corner around him, and Harmon fell awkwardly on his right side. The pressure forced Panthers quarterback Jack Plummer to throw under duress, and cornerback James Pierre intercepted him in the end zone.

Harmon was ruled out in the second quarter.

He was tabbed as a starter on the defensive line soon after being taken No. 21 in April's draft.

"Being a first-rounder, being an automatic starter as a rookie, yeah," Harmon said of feeling pressure as a rookie starter. "But I feel like pressure makes diamonds."

Harmon, an heir apparent to longtime defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, was drafted for his physicality and versatility and earned rave reviews throughout the offseason.

He recorded his first preseason sack Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"We think he's had a really good camp," assistant general manager Andy Weidl said of Harmon last week. "His explosiveness, his length, his hands, he's always working his hands. The ability to escape blocks in both phases, the energy he comes off the ball with, the explosiveness, all of those things are ... reasons why we drafted him, along with the makeup of who he is."