The Pittsburgh Steelers first reported free agent settlement of 2025 comes as a little bit of a shock, former Baltimore Ravens ILB Malik Harrison poised to signal a two-year, $10 million deal. Presumably, he’ll change Elandon Roberts who’s off to Las Vegas to signal with the Raiders.
Are the Steelers getting a 1:1 alternative? One thing higher, one thing worse? Let’s dive in. Just like our DK Metcalf movie room, we’ll break Harrison’s tape into his run protection, protection, blitz/rush, utilization, and particular groups.
Run Protection
Harrison is lower from an identical fabric as Roberts. In profile and athletic testing, there are parallels. Whereas Harrison is taller at 6025 and larger general, they each ran within the 4.6’s popping out of faculty and impressed of their verts and broads that measured explosiveness. Harrison jumped 36 inches within the vert and 10’2″ within the broad in comparison with Roberts’ 36-inch and 10’0″ numbers in the identical occasions.
Like Roberts, Harrison prefers to play downhill. He can fill his hole and maintain the purpose of assault and at his finest, tackle and shed blocks. He’s No. 40 in all of the clips all through this breakdown.
As we’ll clarify extra within the utilization part under, Harrison toggled between off-ball linebacker and EDGE in Baltimore. He’s able to setting the sting and slipping blocks or stringing runs out alongside the perimeter.
However his tape is up-and-down. Harrison may be too simply managed, caught, and washed.
As a tackler, Harrison does a pleasant job working clear and squared up and he’s in a position to flash hit energy. However he’s liable to slipping off larger and extra highly effective runners, struggling to persistently get down Steelers’ backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren of their three 2024 conferences.
Professional Soccer Reference charged him with 10 missed tackles and a whopping 15.6-perent missed deal with fee. Of the 84 defenders with a minimum of 50 whole tackles in 2024, Harrison’s fee was tied for 14th-highest amongst all positions and fourth-worst of any linebacker.
Protection
Harrison is a pure beneath zone defender. He offers effort and chase throughout the sector however takes brief, uneven steps and doesn’t cowl a lot floor. He gained’t carry and run with tight ends in protection and quarterbacks usually threw over high of him, Harrison unable to get depth to squeeze throws. The uncommon time he was in man protection, he struggled, together with giving up a landing seize to Cordarrelle Patterson.
He’ll want to enhance his capacity to key and prognosis. Harrison is commonly a tick late and fooled by false pullers and play-action, inflicting him to be late to get depth in zone. Within the second, watch his delay dropping into protection in comparison with No. 0 Roquan Smith beside him.
Within the open discipline, he delivers stable hit energy and the power to wrap up in open grass. That’s a constructive.
Blitz/Rush
Harrison has labored on the sting and as an off-ball rusher. He’s more practical with the latter although not proficient in both. He’s an influence rusher who seems to run by with restricted swipes and hand use to beat blocks. His rush can produce energy and collapse the pocket. Watch him leverage Najee Harris within the first clip and within the second, squeeze the hole to stress Justin Herbert that led to an eventual sack from teammates.
Harrison picked up his first two NFL sacks this season. However these include qualifiers. The primary got here when Broncos QB Bo Nix misplaced monitor of the sideline and stepped out of bounds with Harrison speeding however by no means contacting him. The opposite got here in opposition to the New York Giants however a play the place Harrison initially dropped into protection earlier than speeding after a scrambling Tim Boyle, who slid to keep away from contact.
Utilization
Defensively, Harrison logged snaps between inside and outside linebacker all through the 2024 season. Per Professional Soccer Focus, he logged 64 at left exterior linebacker, 98 at proper exterior linebacker, and 196 at off-ball linebacker through the common season.
He started the yr seeing restricted defensive enjoying time and aligning extra usually on the sting than at off-ball. However when the Ravens benched Trenton Simpson later within the yr, Harrison, together with Chris Board, noticed an uptick in snaps. His first begin of the season got here in Week 11 in opposition to Pittsburgh and 316 of his 372 common season defensive snaps, 84.9-percent, got here throughout or after Week 9.
Largely, Harrison performed EDGE in Baltimore’s five-down fronts. Like many groups across the NFL, the Ravens used 5-1 and occasional 5-2 seems on run downs that rolled Harrison up on the road of scrimmage. Of their 4-3 or 4-2-5 fronts, he performed off-ball. Right here’s a take a look at each.
He was primarily used on run downs and eliminated in passing conditions. Similar to Roberts, who didn’t play in two-minute drills or dime packages. Harrison is a base personnel/early down sort of linebacker.
Particular Groups
Importantly, Harrison has an intensive particular groups resume. Since being drafted in 2020, he’s logged 1,558 particular groups snaps, seventh-most league-wide. It’s an identical determine as Miles Killebrew and Tyler Matakevich.
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For the previous three seasons, Harrison logged a minimum of 300 particular groups snaps. A five-phase participant, right here’s how PFF charted his 2024 utilization:
Kick Protection: 89 snapsKick Return: 72 snapsPunt Return: 65 snapsField Purpose Rush: 56 snapsPunt Protection: 54 snaps
Per Professional Soccer Reference, Harrison led the Ravens with 12 particular groups tackles throughout his five-year profession with Baltimore. Right here’s only one instance from 2024, making a deal with for little return in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals.
And right here he’s blocking a fourth quarter discipline purpose in 2022 in opposition to the Cleveland Browns, preserving a three-point lead.
Remaining Ideas
Malik Harrison was seemingly signed to fill an identical position as Roberts. A run-down, base 3-4 grouping of snaps as a part of a three-man unit with Payton Wilson enjoying in nickel and Patrick Queen in an each down position. Harrison ought to proceed to supply loads of particular groups worth, maximizing his gameday position realizing he could solely play 15-20 defensive snaps per sport.
On the plus aspect, Harrison is youthful and a stronger particular teamer than Roberts who has extra inside/exterior versatility, although it stays to be seen how a lot work at exterior linebacker he’ll see. Negatively, he’s not the extraordinary tone setter Roberts was in opposition to the run and is relatively weaker. Even in protection, whereas each have been utilized in restricted style, Roberts was extra instinctive and sound.
Who is aware of why Roberts wasn’t introduced again. It couldn’t have been financially-related given Roberts signed a one-year deal for $3 million whereas Harrison’s contract averaged $5 million per yr over two seasons. Possibly Pittsburgh wished to get youthful and predicted Roberts’ sport was going to fall off. Contracts are as a lot about the place a participant goes as a lot the place he’s been.
One-to-one, this looks like a downgrade for extra money. However the necessary half that may decide the energy of the entrance seven and run protection will probably be present in how the Steelers enhance the defensive position, mainly by changing Larry Ogunjobi, how Payton Wilson progresses in Yr Two within the NFL, and the way Patrick Queen finds his footing in his second season with Pittsburgh. If Wilson takes an enormous step ahead as a sophomore, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him eat away at Harrison’s snaps and put him in a reserve and particular groups position.
