Derrick Harmon, IDL, Oregon (Junior)
Rayane M
The 2025 NFL Draft is fast approaching, and despite an initial impression that this year's class might lack talent, The Trick Play team has once again delved into the tapes to bring you scouting reports on the players who will soon wear the jerseys of your favorite franchises.
From Quarterback to Safety, including the trenches where Offensive Linemen and Defensive Linemen engage in a relentless battle, Rayane and Valentin will walk you through the new faces of this 2025 draft class while everyone is excited about the coming NFL Draft
Strengths :
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Leverage
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Ability to separate
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Powerful player
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Good at gap control
Weaknesses :
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Lack of explosiveness
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Reading ability
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Footwork
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Pass rush needs perfection
- Misses a lot of tackles
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Slow decision-making
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Concerns about his mental toughness
IDL Derrick Harmon
— Rayane M (@RayaneScout) March 10, 2025
Given the hype surrounding him, I'll be honest, I was expecting much better. I was really disappointed by what I saw on the tapes and didn't expect to see such a Raw player
Watch out for his landing spot, which will be decisive in his success
Tier 3🛠️ pic.twitter.com/fSwH0q77Wf
TTProfil
Today, we're diving into the profile of Derrick Harmon, the Defensive Tackle from the Oregon Ducks. I haven't seen Derrick play much this season, partly because I didn't watch many Ducks games live, but also because he rarely stood out in the games I did watch. So, I approached his scouting report with a neutral perspective, eager to discover the player who has captured the attention of draft specialists.
Let's start with his strengths, beginning with his leverage ability, which is clearly one of his major assets. His leverage ability ranges from good to sometimes excellent, allowing him to position himself effectively to make plays. Notably, he already demonstrates a strong use of the Corkscrew technique for his age, helping him to beat double teams (the Corkscrew technique involves placing hands on one of the two players in a double team and then dropping a knee to the ground to slip under the second player).
This technique is quite challenging to execute, so I was surprised to see him use it multiple times, especially against tough opponents like Penn State and Ohio State. As you can see, Harmon should have no leverage issues once he reaches the NFL.
Derrick is also impressive in his ability to separate, which is quite good. It's not uncommon to see him generate significant power in his upper body, allowing him to extend his arms and keep blockers at bay, even when his elbows aren't locked. This is not an easy task and demonstrates the strength he possesses to force separation from his opponent. This is a significant advantage given his position.
Let's discuss his power, as all of Derrick's strengths ultimately revolve around his strength and athletic abilities. While it might be easy to think that Derrick isn't particularly impressive on tape, a trained eye can see the truth. Although I don't place much importance on his 40-yard dash time, which is impressive for a player of his size, it's because I haven't seen that speed translate onto the field. However, as mentioned earlier, Derrick possesses genuine strength in both his upper and lower body.
As we'll see later, while this strength could be better utilized, it is nonetheless present and won't require additional work to develop further.
Finally, let's discuss run defense, specifically Harmon's gap control. Derrick excels in run stopping, particularly in gap control situations. While there are areas where he could improve to further enhance his run defense, his current level is clearly one of his strengths.
Whether facing one-on-one situations or double teams, Derrick effectively uses his strength and excellent leverage to maintain control of his gap responsibility and stop ball carriers attempting to push through.
Now, let's move on to his weaknesses, where there might be more areas to address. Firstly, I must highlight the lack of explosiveness I observed in his stance exit, despite his impressive drill times during the pre-draft process. This lack of explosiveness is consistent, and I did not expect it after seeing his performances in the one-on-one drills at the Senior Bowl.
His takeoff often appears sluggish, and it's not uncommon to see him beaten on the first step post-snap. Whether aligned in a 3-technique or 4-technique, the impression remains the same: Derrick seems to have his feet stuck in cement.
Another issue with Harmon, given his profile, is his slow and overly static read of the game. Often, Derrick wastes precious seconds reading the play, but since he remains stationary without necessarily creating penetration, he contributes nothing to the play.
In run situations, this sometimes costs him tackles when the ball carrier passes by him, and Derrick, having read the play too slowly, is late to separate from the block. In pass situations, as I mentioned, since Harmon is too static, he fails to compress the pocket from the inside, giving the quarterback ample time to adjust his throw or move within the pocket. This is unfortunate because I believe he has the physical and athletic qualities to remain active during his read phase.
I'll take this opportunity, as we discuss his static read, to briefly mention his footwork, which is largely responsible for this issue and, in my opinion, not up to par. It's not uncommon to see Derrick completely stop his feet during plays when engaged with opposing offensive linemen. Additionally, when attempting to quickly create penetration, he often narrows his foot base, causing him to lose balance and allowing offensive linemen to displace him from his gap responsibility, creating a clear path for their ball carriers.
As mentioned earlier, his delayed snap reaction could also be attributed to poor footwork. Additionally, in pass rush situations, Harmon sometimes takes multiple small steps in place while looking for an opening to execute a technique.
The issue is that, as explained earlier, since Derrick remains stationary, these steps are useless and detract from his game, serving no purpose, adding no value, and further slowing down his pass rush.
Risking shock to those who have seen his impressive pass rush statistics, I do not consider this to be one of his strengths, quite the opposite. Let's discuss his pass rush, because while Derrick Harmon occasionally shows flashes of brilliance, it's certainly not due to his move set, which, in my opinion, is quite limited, if not poor.
It's quite simple with Derrick: you'll get a solid 50% Rip move, 20% Bull-rush, 20% Swim move, and the rest is good hand activity that helps him avoid getting caught by blockers. Early in the season, Harmon would sometimes attempt Spin moves as Counter moves without much success, but at least he tried. This allowed him to gain experience and build a foundation to improve upon, but as the season progressed, I saw him do it less and less until it completely disappeared, which is a shame. Ultimately, it's a very limited toolset, especially when compared to the new generation of Defensive Tackles who seem to expand their technical arsenal year after year to become accomplished Pass rushers.
Beyond the fact that his technical toolset is quite limited, Harmon also tends to hesitate before executing his moves, which costs him valuable time and further impacts his effectiveness as a Pass rusher.
Returning to the point about improving his Gap control, which we mentioned in the strengths section, Harmon sometimes takes far too long to dive into his assigned gap.
I'm not sure if this is a specific coaching issue, but Derrick sometimes stands in front of the blocker without making a decision, allowing the ball carrier to choose the best option and gain valuable yards. This is unfortunate because, in most of the situations I'm referring to, the LBs were backing up Derrick and could have covered the gap he left open.
We keep coming back to the same point: whether it's his reads or his technique execution on pass situations, Derrick takes far too long to make decisions.
I'm not sure if this is a specific coaching issue, but Derrick sometimes stands in front of the blocker without making a decision, allowing the ball carrier to choose the best option and gain valuable yards. This is unfortunate because, in most of the situations I'm referring to, the LBs were backing up Derrick and could have covered the gap he left open.
We keep coming back to the same point: whether it's his reads or his technique execution on pass situations, Derrick takes far too long to make decisions.
Another negative point about Harmon: I noticed a certain nonchalance, even arrogance, in some games and reps during my review, which I did not expect to see based on the initial games I studied. The issue is that I quickly realized this behavior wasn't consistent across all games, and it seemed to worsen as the season progressed.
For example, Derrick's attitude is completely different between the first game against Ohio State and the second matchup in the Play-Offs. Some might argue that he may have given up due to the game's circumstances (a small red flag in my opinion, but let's move on), but what about his attitude in the game against Penn State? He didn't pursue plays and played lackadaisically, missing several tackles, even though Oregon was leading.
Serious questions arise: Was Harmon picking and choosing his games? Was he consciously or unconsciously easing up towards the end of the season to avoid injury? I'm not sure, but it's something I strongly dislike and it significantly lowered Harmon's score in my evaluation. I'm really not a fan.
I just mentioned it, but I’ve noticed it multiple times while watching his games : Derrick misses a significant number of tackles, enough for me to think at some point, "This is starting to be a lot." If I do a quick count, he easily misses two tackles per game, and in the season opener against Ohio State, it was a real festival, with maybe four or five missed tackles, including one or two sacks.
Sometimes it's because he gets stuck in a block and can't secure the tackle, sometimes it's because he fails to catch the ball carrier in pursuit, and other times it's due to taking a bad angle and lacking the speed or agility to make or finish the tackle despite being in close range. He’s always right there but still misses. Sure, there’s always a reason, but at the level he wants to reach—the pros—there won’t be any excuses. A missed tackle can decide a game, and while one might slide, missing two sacks and three more tackles is unacceptable, even for a Nose Tackle—let alone a 3-Tech Defensive Tackle.
Ultimately, Derrick Harmon is still a very raw player. He clearly has several aspects of his game to develop, and while this year at Oregon has done wonders for his stock, I think there’s reason to fault Michigan State for his lack of development. After all, there’s a reason he chose to transfer to Oregon this year, and it shows. In my opinion, Derrick isn’t quite ready for the big league yet, but this season has been a huge help in terms of his development.
While his athleticism and impact against the run could earn him a spot in the rotation as a rookie, his overall production wouldn’t be anything special based on what I’ve seen on tape.
Moreover, his attitude and the way he plays in certain games even made me wonder if Derrick truly loves the game. At times, he looks like he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty or battle in the trenches, which is puzzling for a player at his position. Personally, after watching a lot of tape, I was really put off—but that’s just my opinion. That said, he’s being talked about as a second-round value, sometimes even late first. Thanks, but no thanks. The only reason I still have him in my Tier 3 is that I have no idea how old he is. He could have dropped lower, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt—if he’s young, he could be an interesting project. But honestly, if I were a GM, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t even look at him before Day 3.
Since these reports always reflect my opinion, as I said, Derrick Harmon is ranked in my Tier 3 but could have easily slipped into Tier 4. As for the value projection I assign to him, I wouldn’t take him before the third round, and I definitely wouldn’t be a fan of an earlier selection.
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