Derrick Harmon

Draft Rumors: Dolphins, Johnson, Harmon

April 11th, 2025 at 10:02pm CST by Ely Allen

The Dolphins are reportedly doing some homework on high-ranked tight end prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft. Though, at No. 13 overall, Miami may be out of range of top tight end prospect Tyler Warren of Penn State, the team took a look at two options that could be around for their second-round pick.

According to Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network, LSU’s Mason Taylor was onsite yesterday. Taylor is the son of Dolphins legend Jason Taylor. The younger Taylor is projected to be a fringe first-round prospect, but with tight ends, the ranges can certainly be wider. Taylor did a top-30 visit with the Browns on Monday and has also visited the Seahawks and Chargers.

Earlier this week, the Dolphins also hosted local tight prospect Elijah Arroyo out of Miami (FL), per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Arroyo had a breakout season for the Hurricanes this year and caught lots of attention at the Senior Bowl. After visiting Miami on Monday, Arroyo met with the Browns on Tuesday and Giants on Wednesday. Mike Cugno of CBS Sports adds that teammates Xavier Restrepo and Arroyo have both spent plenty of time around the Dolphins facility in the last couple of days.

Miami saw veteran Jonnu Smith rival Tyreek Hill in the receiving game for the Dolphins last year, but Smith’s contract expires after this season, so Taylor or Arroyo may be viewed as strong TE2 options or potential tight ends of the future.

Here are a few other draft visits we’ve seen reported in recent days:

All-American running back Kaleb Johnson has been making the rounds lately. After visiting the Steelers last weekend, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 adds that Johnson has visited the Titans, Broncos, Texans, and Bengals. Johnson is widely considered the third-best running back prospect in the class behind Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton. Based on interest from the Titans, Johnson could go anywhere from the early-second to early-third round.
Per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon visited the Jets yesterday. He hasn’t often been mocked in range of the Jets‘ No. 7 overall pick so far, but he could certainly be a candidate to find New York early in the second round or perhaps in the late-first, should the Jets opt to trade back up. Garafolo notes that Harmon has also visited the Browns and Steelers this week.

Steelers Host Derrick Harmon, Omarion Hampton On Top-30 Visits

April 9th, 2025 at 12:27pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Steelers are continuing to assess options for their 2025 draft class by hosting Oregon defensive linemen Derrick Harmon and North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton on top-30 visits, per Ray Fittpaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Both Harmon and Hampton are projected to go in the first round of April’s draft in which the Steelers hold the 21st overall pick. Either player could contribute in Pittsburgh right away with the team needing to add long-term contributors at both positions.

The Steelers released Larry Ogunjobi in March, leaving behind a defensive line that only has one player – 2024 sixth-rounder Logan Lee – signed past the 2026 season. Keeanu Benton could be re-signed as a long-term starter, but Cameron Heyward will be 37 when his contract expires. DeMarvin Leal, Dean Lowry, and Montravius Adams are all entering contract years, further heightening the need to add in the trenches.

Harmon, the 21st-ranked prospect on Daniel Jeremiah’s big board, could fit the bill. He is a three-year starter who posted career-highs of 5.0 sacks and 11 tackles for loss during his senior year at Oregon after spending his first three college seasons at Michigan State. He has the football I.Q. and competitiveness that defensive line coaches will covet, though he does not profile as an elite athlete compared to the rest of the draft class.

The Steelers will also need to add to their backfield after letting Najee Harris walk in free agency. Pittsburgh retained restricted free agent Jaylen Warren and signed Kenneth Gainwell, but Hampton offers a higher-long term ceiling with his size, athleticism, and three-down ability. He is Jeremiah’s 13th-ranked prospect after two outstanding seasons for the Tar Heels and an excellent showing at the NFL Combine.

Two Oregon Big Men Declare For Draft

January 15th, 2025 at 10:36pm CST by Ely Allen

The Oregon Ducks have come a long way from 2022 when defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux was their only selection in the NFL draft, seeing six players selected in 2023 and eight players selected last year. This year, though, the Ducks have a chance at doing something they haven’t done in 10 years: land two players in the first round of the draft. They last accomplished this feat in 2015, when Marcus Mariota and Arik Armstead were taken within the top 17 picks.

The two players that could make it happen this year are defensive tackle Derrick Harmon and offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. Harmon announced on his Instagram that he would be forgoing his redshirt senior year to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft, while Conerly announced the forgoing of his senior season on X.

Harmon has come a long way since committing to Michigan State as a three-star defensive lineman out of Loyola HS (MI). His biggest offers came from the Spartans, Ole Miss, and Purdue, while he received a few others from Group of 5 and FCS programs, as well. In East Lansing, Harmon redshirted his freshman year after only appearing in four games. He began to make an impact as a redshirt freshman, making 30 total tackles, including three for loss and two sacks in 12 appearances with five starts. He doubled his start total as a redshirt sophomore, racking up 40 total tackles, four tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.

Following a solid 2023 campaign, Harmon entered the transfer portal after the Spartans fired then-head coach Mel Tucker. After taking visits to Oregon, Ohio State, and Auburn, he opted to withdraw his name from the portal and remain with new head coach Jonathan Smith. When he re-entered the transfer portal in April, he immediately became the most-coveted defensive lineman available and eventually committed to the Ducks.

In Eugene, Harmon made an immediate impact, taking his play to another level and performing as one of the top interior defenders in the country. In his single season as a Duck, he set new career highs in tackles (45), tackles for loss (11), sacks (5.0), passes defensed (4), and forced fumbles (2). The stats only tell half the story of how disruptive Harmon is as an interior defender. His quickness and power make him a menace inside the tackles, but he’s handled his own lining up over tackles plenty this season, giving him versatility to play all over the line.

Conerly was the gem of the Ducks 2022 signing class. Coming out of Rainier Beach HS (WA), Conerly was the team’s only five-star recruit and the top tackle in the country, per 247Sports. With offers from all over, Conerly took his time with the recruiting process, taking official visits with Michigan, Oklahoma, Miami, Oregon, and USC. Many believed he was destined to become a Trojan, but he shocked the recruiting world and committed to the Ducks.

Conerly didn’t start at all as a true freshman, but he was too talented to keep off the field. He played often on special teams and established himself as a reliable extra lineman in jumbo packages. It was as a sophomore that Conerly became a full-time starter at left tackle. He was considered the key factor of an offensive line that gave up the fewest sacks in the nations (5) and the third-fewest tackles for loss (44). In 2024, he was once again served as the prime example of dependability. He only allowed one sack and five pressures this season.

While Harmon is an almost guaranteed first-rounder, Conerly will be the deciding factor of whether or not the school can get two players selected on Day 1. The talk around Conerly reminds me of the talk around former Oklahoma offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. Brown was polarizing in that his technique and combine performance were considered downright poor, but he got the job done time and again. Conerly’s technique is raw when hand-fighting, and he could stand to get stronger, but elite recovery speed has saved him from otherwise damning attributes.

As mentioned before, Harmon should be securely in the first round. ESPN’s Mel Kiper lists him as the 18th-best overall prospect, and he and his colleagues (Matt Miller, Jordan Reid, and Field Yates) all have him as either the No. 2 or No. 3 defensive tackle prospect. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has Harmon as the second-best interior defender and the 14th-best prospect. Conerly ranges from the third- to sixth-best offensive tackle prospect among the ESPN analysts, while Brugler has him as the fifth tackle and the 33rd-best overall prospect.

Harmon and Conerly will both be hoping to hear their names on the first night of the draft. Harmon can likely book his ticket to Lambeau for the event. Conerly may be just on the outside looking in for now, but a strong pre-draft performance, combined with a relatively weak class of offensive linemen, could result in a boost into the first round.