NFL Draft
11/29/24
7 min read
Derrick Harmon 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Oregon Ducks DT
Height: 6050 (unofficial)
Weight: 310 (unofficial)
Year: Redshirt Junior
Pro Comparison: DaQuan Jones
Scouting Overview
Oregon Ducks defensive tackle Derrick Harmon is a disruptive presence on the defensive interior who offers an intriguing blend of skills that could play well in several defensive schemes. Harmon has the first-step quickness to be an effective penetration 3-technique.
He has the mass and flashes of hand usage to warrant consideration in schemes that put more weight on their defenders to stack and deconstruct blocks at the point of attack. Harmon illustrates good flashes of point-of-attack run defending, but his lack of dynamic short-area fluidity and flexibility creates a lesser margin for error for him to finish his splash play opportunities.
If Harmon can maximize his movement skills with efficient angles when closing in space, he will see his actual production expand and warrant playing in an aggressive front. If not, a team can fall back on developing his hands and encouraging him to play along the line of scrimmage instead.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Very good first step to coil and explode through gaps as a penetration/attack defender
- Has a good nose for twists and stunts in pass rush opportunities — will effectively set picks or alternatively time his loops well to become the free runner
- Illustrates desirable technique with hand placement to stack blocks before fighting pressure and squeezing a gap
Negatives
- Needs to learn how to finish — he has a lot more disruption opportunities than he does production due to poor angles and control at first contact
- Tightness through his hips is showcased in short area reaction opportunities or when turning tight corners
- Guilty of playing with high pads at times — will concede his chest and recovery opportunities in this regard are limited by core/lower half flexibility
Background
Harmon was born in Detroit, MI, and played high school football for Loyola HS. There, he played on both sides of the ball as a four-year starter and was named First-Team All-State as a senior. Harmon was ranked as a 3-star recruit (247 Sports) and garnered interest from a slew of programs, including Ole Miss, Purdue, and Michigan State.
Harmon enrolled with the Spartans and played three years with the program — redshirting as a true freshman in 2021 while playing just a handful of snaps before becoming an intermittent starter in 2022 and assuming a more permanent role with the defense in 2023. Harmon led the defensive interior in snaps that season.
After Harmon’s redshirt sophomore season in 2023, he entered, withdrew, and re-entered the transfer portal — landing with the Oregon Ducks in the process. His pass rush profile exploded on a front with more talent and a willingness to move him around more frequently, and he now grades as one of the top interior defensive line defenders eligible for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Tale Of The Tape
Harmon’s leap in play with the Oregon Ducks injects plenty of enthusiasm into his pro resume. This is a player who illustrates enough versatility to be considered a scheme versatile talent — although there is still room for growth in any future role he absorbs with an NFL franchise.
Raw quickness is present when playing as a gap-shooting penetration player. The length and hand usage showcase the ability to stack and deconstruct blocks at the point of attack. And Harmon’s got a number of pass rush counters in his bag to win organically if left in a 1-on-1 situation rushing the passer against short sets.
Harmon is not nearly as dynamic in lateral situations, however. His hips show some tightness, which is a limiting factor to how quickly he can redirect at the line of scrimmage, particularly once he’s opened his hips to the sideline to flow with the point of attack and hold his gap. His ability to fall back into an adjacent gap and play cutback by the running back is limited, and more often than not, he’ll overrun these opportunities. Patient running backs who see the field well can play off his gap declarations.
Harmon’s hip stiffness also shows up in head-up opportunities against all ball carriers. This includes quarterbacks at the top of the drop. Harmon has come screaming through the pocket on a number of occasions but has been overrun or sidestepped by the target. He needs to learn how to finish to ensure he’s not just an active member of a defensive front but, instead, a productive one.
It is easy to appreciate the initial explosiveness in his hands and his first step. Harmon is capable of creating knockback both by getting hip to hip quickly with blockers and forcing them into recovery mode or, alternatively, by setting his hands and peeking & feeling leverage before working across the face or fighting pressure at the point of attack.
Harmon has sufficient level length, although there are times when his leverage betrays him, and he allows blockers into his chest. In these instances, he does struggle to re-fit his hands and establish separation. Instead, he will have his pads bubbled up and lose ground at the line of scrimmage. These reps pop up in individual drive blocks and against double teams, so consistency with his get-off and discipline with his leverage are important points of emphasis for his game.
Harmon isn’t super dense in the lower half to support a low center of gravity, which also contributes to some of the aforementioned reps playing the point. But when he’s firing off the ball, he can play with the desired physicality. Harmon also showcases the ability to explode off the snap and play with a powerful bull rush, offering him the ability to compress the pocket from within.
I appreciate how he executes stunts; he “gets it” with his reps to manufacture and attack protection. He will crash into blocks and pinballs off that contact quite well, slingshotting his frame off the opposition to split through pass-off opportunities. Teams that are calculated with their rush plans will likely find use for Harmon on these reps in the NFL.
Harmon plays with a likable motor and effort to pursue plays outside the hashes. This isn’t a low gravitational pull player, but he does not have the same speed appeal and chase-down value in longer-distance pursuits as what he does inside the tackle box.
He’ll be reliant on the effort of his teammates to force cutbacks insides or the quarterback to double back to the middle of the field in order to secure production on outside-of-structure reps that reach the numbers.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Derrick Harmon projects best as a 3-tech at the NFL level. His movement skills are most impactful when he’s playing forward, although he could play as an end on an odd front if he illustrates better leverage discipline.
Harmon is likely a rotational defender early in his NFL career before developing into a high-volume snap taker by the end of his rookie contract.
Grade: 80.50/100.00, Late First/Early Second Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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