The Pittsburgh Steelers landed their prize jewel in the 2025 NFL Draft. Following the trail of breadcrumbs to their first-round pick, it wasn't hard to see that Derrick Harmon was the player Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan had their hearts set on since the beginning.
At 6'4 1/2'' and 313 pounds with long arms and terrific athletic traits, Harmon is exactly what this team has been searching for in an interior defensive lineman, and they believe they found a player who is talented enough to be Cameron Heyward's eventual replacement.
But there was one better option than standing pat and taking Harmon with the 21st pick.
During Tomlin and Khan's pre-draft press conference, they expressed that they were open to the idea of trading back in the first round. However, the Steelers' decision-makers made it clear that they would not trade away from a player they loved at that spot. Harmon was that player.
This is where my philosophy would have differed slightly. Knowing teams were calling Pittsburgh and were interested in moving up, a trade back would have been the one option better than taking Harmon at pick 21.
The Pittsburgh Steelers should have traded back in the first round of the NFL Draft
While it's unclear what offers could have been on the table for the Pittsburgh Steelers, we know that added draft capital would have been involved. The amount would obviously vary depending on how far they moved back.
But, for the sake of this argument, let's say they were able to trade down roughly five spots and pick. Not only would they have had a chance to draft Derrick Harmon—the player they ultimately ended up with in Round 1—but they also could have picked up an additional Day 2 pick in the process.
In this scenario, had Harmon been snatched away, it's not like the Steelers wouldn't have had other options. Though they expressed no interest in Luther Burden throughout the pre-draft process, they could have had the talented Missouri receiver if they traded back to the tail end of the first round. If I had told you that the Steelers could have come out of Day 1 with Burden and an extra Day 2 pick, wouldn't you chalk that up as a win for Pittsburgh?
This obviously wouldn't have been the only option. The fanbase was split when they passed on Shedeur Sanders, and landing the polarizing Colorado quarterback in a trade-back would have been much more bearable, considering the lesser risk and the draft capital gained in the process.
I love Derrick Harmon, and I have confidence that he's going to be a good player in this league. However, the only option I would have gone with instead was a trade-back that would have given the Pittsburgh Steelers the most bang for their buck.