Derrick Harmon- 5 Things To Know About The Eagles Draft Prospect
Milton Williams is gone. Will the Eagles look to the draft to replace him? If so, a DT from Oregon from Oregon could be of interest to them. Will Derrick Harmon be the pick at 32?
Here are 5 Things You Should Know About Derrick Harmon
Lead All DTs In Pressures
Harmon only had 5 sacks, outside the top 10 for DTs in this class. But Eagles fans know well that getting the QB down is not the only way DTs can impact the game, and what Harmon did do was lead the draft class in pressures, and he did so by a wide margin.
Harmon had 55 pressures. 2nd place for DTs in this draft had 44. Harmon also leads the draft class with 43 Hurries, 9 more than the guy in 2nd place. His Pass Rush Win Rate of 17.6% is 3rd in the draft class.
Missed Tackles An Issue
Winning against your blocker is obviously important. But then you still need to finish the play. That is the area Derrick Harmon needs to improve.
Harmon missed 12 tackles, good for a missed tackle rate of 26.7%. Both are in the bottom 5 for qualified players. There were 4 games where he missed multiple tackles.
Part of the reason he had only 5 sacks, despite leading the nation in pressures, was that he struggled to finish plays. He consistently puts himself in the right position to make plays both against the pass and vs the run, but if he can’t finish vs College Players, how will he fare vs NFL players? It’s an issue he has to fix if he is going to live up to the hype.
Good Speed For A Big Man
Derrick Harmon is not lacking in size. He is 6ft5 and 313 lbs. But for a man that size, he can move. Harmon was one of the standouts at the recent NFL combine, clocking in at 4.97 seconds on the 40-yard rush, and 1.74 on the 10-yard split.
Between the measurables and the performance at the drills, he drew a pretty impressive comparison to a current NFL superstar.
Rose Up For The Biggest Games
You can judge players by how they perform when the lights shine the brightest. You could argue the 2 biggest games Oregon played last year were the 2 games vs Ohio State (the eventual Champions). His team won 1 of them, and kind of got embarrassed in the other one. But how did he fare in those games?
Between both games, Harmon totaled 6 pressures, 5 QB Hits, 4 stops, and 1 forced fumble. By PFF’s grading system, the first game was his best game of the season, and the playoff game was his 3rd best game.
The guys he was battling with in the Ohio State games are guys he could feasibly be lined up against in the NFL too. Being able to win vs them is a good sign of what he can do at the next level.
What NFL.com Said About Him
“Position-versatile building block that makes moving the football a much tougher task. Harmon is wide, long and naturally powerful at the point of attack. He can create traffic jams inside as a two-gapper or stunt and power his way into the backfield. He’s unlikely to be a primary sack man, but he can be part of a swarm unit that batters the pocket.”
The good thing is with the Eagles, he would not have to be the primary sack guy. He would be playing next to Jalen Carter. Like Milton Williams did last year, Harmon would get the benefit of single coverage the majority of the time. As we have been, when Harmon is single-covered, he wins a lot.