{"id":45117,"date":"2025-04-30T02:31:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T02:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=45117"},"modified":"2025-04-30T02:31:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T02:31:54","slug":"breaking-mike-tomlin-reveals-trait-steelers-pursued-instead-of-shedeur-sanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=45117","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Mike Tomlin Reveals Trait Steelers Pursued Instead of Shedeur Sanders.."},"content":{"rendered":"
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke about the trait that made Derrick Harmon the team’s first round pick.<\/div>\n
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The story of the 2025\u00a0NFL Draft\u00a0was the fall of Colorado\u00a0quarterback\u00a0Shedeur Sanders. Blame Sanders\u2019 pre-draft antics, his team\u2019s faulty information, or a league-wide hesitancy to go all-in on the Sanders family. Whatever the reason, the league didn\u2019t view him as a first-round quarterback. They saw him as a mid-round talent with a handful of questions further clouding his profile.<\/p>\n

As such, Sanders fell to the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21. They passed on him in favor of Oregon defensive tackle.<\/p>\n

Then he fell to Round 3, and Pittsburgh took Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson. In Round 4,\u00a0Ohio State\u2019s Jack Sawyer took precedence. The\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u2019 ended Sanders\u2019 nightmare in Round 5, leaving Ohio State quarterback Will Howard on the Steelers\u2019 board in Round 6.<\/p>\n

Head coach\u00a0Mike Tomlin praised Sanders during the pre-draft process, but Pittsburgh \u2013 as one of the league\u2019s quarterback-needy teams \u2013 were a main character in his fall.<\/p>\n

In an interview with\u00a0NFL\u00a0Network during the NFL Draft, head coach Mike Tomlin revealed the trait that the Steelers pursued in the early rounds that indirectly turned them away from Sanders.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you guys can see, not only in that pick, but all our others, there\u2019s a commitment here with this draft group to reestablish physicality and big-man presence,\u201d\u00a0Tomlin said. \u201cAnd, certainly, Derrick Harmon fits that bill. We like his physical stature, we like his style of play. It\u2019s just what we covet and what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tomlin, for all of his shrewd media tactics, was telling the truth. It\u2019s hard to get more physical than a freakishly athletic 313-pound defensive tackle in Round 1. Harmon will help the run defense, where Pittsburgh was merely average in 2024. In the Wild Card Round, that came back to haunt them, leaving the door open for an easy\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0win.<\/p>\n

The Steelers\u2019 quest for physicality defined their draft class. In Round 3, Johnson became a safe bet to start in the backfield, bringing newfound power to a zone rushing attack. Sawyer trades speed for power as an astute run defender on the edge. In Round 5, Iowa\u2019s Yahya Black added an even bigger presence to the defensive line, stepping in at nose tackle.<\/p>\n

When Rich Eisen joked about the Steelers de facto second-round pick, receiver DK Metcalf, Tomlin asserted that he, too, is a dominating physical presence on the boundary.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u00a0clearly didn\u2019t view Sanders as a first-round talent, but it found one at No. 21 anyway. In doing so, the Steelers got closer to the AFC teams they hope to take down \u2013 even without an early-round quarterback that so many had been clamoring for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke about the trait that made Derrick Harmon the team’s first round pick. 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