After getting hammered with injuries, the Pittsburgh Steelers have finally received positive news on the injury front.

Pittsburgh’s first round pick, selected 21st overall of the 2025 NFL Draft, Derrick Harmon is aiming to make his NFL debut this week against the New England Patriots.

In the Steelers’ final preseason game against the Carolina Panthers, Harmon sprained his MCL, ultimately delaying his NFL debut.

Since then, Pittsburgh lost Joey Porter Jr., Deshon Elliott, Alex Highsmith, and Max Scharping.

In his draft year after he transferred to Oregon, Harmon had registered career high numbers with 45 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, five sacks, four pass deflections, and two forced fumbles.

His presence will be a huge welcome for a defensive line that has majorly struggled against the run over the first two weeks of the season.

In the first game against the New York Jets, Breece Hall had rushed for 107 yards, and in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks, Kenneth Walker III rushed for 105 yards.

So with Harmon, who can equally be a dominant force against the pass and the run, coming in, the expectation is to be a disruptor in the interior.

And his teammates are putting high expectations on him already.

"Yeah, we've been waiting on him,” said fellow defensive lineman Keanu Benton. “We need him to come do some things, and we didn't get him in the first round for no reason."

The first test will be against Patriots’ running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson.

Stevenson just came off an 88 rushing yard game against the Miami Dolphins last week, and Henderson was one of the more highly touted running backs in the draft this past season.

You may have remembered during the Draft, that Harmon had one of the more notable stories out of most prospects.

While he was a freshman at Michigan State, Harmon’s mother suffered a stroke and struggled to fully recover. She was paralyzed on the left side of her body and was eventually placed on life support after undergoing close to eight different brain surgeries.

Harmon credited her for being the reason why he’s a football player, and as a single mother, she was his full support system.

Once he was drafted, he took the quick trip from Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the Draft was held, back to Michigan to tell his mother the great news. She passed away shortly after.

With her as his guardian angel, Harmon will look to make his NFL debut a success.

Week 3’s game against the Patriots will be at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.