Derrick Harmon's sack of Joe Burrow was a hot flash butterfly effect moment

The 2025 NFL Draft continues to be a defining moment for the Cincinnati Bengals, and not in a good way. They gambled on Shemar Stewart with the 17th overall pick, only for him to make near-zero impact as a rookie.

In the AFC North opener of Stewart's second season, he played nary a single defensive snap. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Derrick Harmon broke through for a strip sack of Joe Burrow to secure a 30-27 victory.

After that season-defining play, I couldn't help but think of the butterfly effect from the '25 draft that saw the d-tackle-needy Bengals pass up Harmon in favor of Stewart.

Harmon's walk-off sack twists the knife on Shemar Stewart draft pick

Unlike Shemar Stewart, Derrick Harmon did have strong production in college. Whereas Stewart had 4.5 sacks in three years at Texas A&M, Harmon had five sacks in his lone season with Oregon after transferring from Michigan State.

Harmon piled up three sacks as a rookie in 12 games and generally lived up to his 21st overall pick billing when healthy. Sunday's sack on Burrow is further proof that the talented 23-year-old is moving in the right direction.

But it goes beyond the Bengals' mere "Stewart over Harmon" selection. Think about how Cincinnati's defense might look with Harmon in the lineup, as opposed to Stewart's literal non-presence.

Would the team have had to shell out oodles of money for Jonathan Allen? No. That money could've been spent elsewhere on, say, A LINEBACKER! Or another more viable safety than hoping for the best with Jordan Battle and a bargain-bin addition in Kyle Dugger.

Look, Allen was playing well for the first two games until Week 3, when he became virtually invisible. Maybe him popping up on the injury report with a knee issue was more serious than first believed.

Whatever the case may be, whiffing on Stewart is even worse when the Bengals could've gotten an Allen type like Harmon at a fraction of the cost to pair with Dexter Lawrence and upgrade the roster elsewhere.

I mean let's face it, the Bengals went "all in" by their standards this offseason, but did they truly maximize their cap space? You're lying to yourself if you answer in the affirmative. Or you just don't know ball.

Harmon was the 22nd-ranked prospect on my big board in the 2025 draft; Stewart was 52nd. Given the choice between those two, it would've been a no-brainer for me if I were in Duke Tobin's seat. But what do I know!?

In fairness that big board also didn't take into account off-field issues for Mike Green and James Pearce Jr., information I wasn't privy to at the time. They were ranked higher than Harmon.

But on the other hand, at least Cincinnati clearly did their homework on those guys and stayed away from them. It'd make the decision to draft Harmon even more of a slam dunk, provided he didn't have some unsavory backstory.

Whatever. All that matters is the Bengals passed up a high-impact, cost-effective defensive lineman who's matched Stewart's exact college sack output in the NFL through only 15 games. And we'll see Harmon twice a year in the AFC North. Should be a blast, especially if Stewart continues on his unmitigated bust trajectory.

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