Newton brings a new element to Pitt
Pitt has four running backs on the 2020 roster, signed two running backs in the 2019 class and already had one commitment for the 2021 class.
But on Tuesday the Panthers landed another junior backfield prospect, and he brings a different element from what the team has.
At 6’0” and 220 pounds, Malik Newton is bigger than any Pitt running back - current or future.
“I feel like I’m ready to play right now,” Newton told Panther-Lair.com after making his commitment. “And if I’m not, I’m going to get ready. I’ve been working hard, eating healthy, getting my body shaped up and ready for it.”
Newton has already shown what he can do on the field. Last season for Norfolk (Va.) Lake Taylor’s Class 4 championship-winning team, the three-star running back recruit rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 37 touchdowns.
He was named the All-Tidewater Player of the Year for his efforts - his second year in a row winning that award - and his high school exploits have the Pitt coaches excited for what he could do when he gets to college.
“They said I could come in and if do what I have to do, stay on top of my grades and work hard, I can have a good chance to get on the field,” Newton said.
Newton is the second running back to commit to Pitt in the class of 2021, following fellow Tidewater standout Rodney Hammond, who committed to the Panthers last November as a three-star prospect out of Booker T. Washington.
But Hammond checks in at 5’10” and 185 pounds, putting him more in line with Pitt’s underclass roster at running back as it will look when Newton gets to campus in the summer of 2021. Redshirt junior Todd Sibley is 225 pounds and will be a senior next season, but he’s shorter than Newton. Sophomore Vincent Davis and freshman Israel Abanikanda have speed but both are smaller - Davis is 5’8” and 175 pounds, Abanikanda is 5’11” and 200 pounds.
Newton’s unique build should give the coaches some options when he gets to campus.
“They said I could be an all-down back or I could be the power back; whichever one they need me at, that’s where they’re going to use me. I’m fine with that. Whatever they need from me, I’ll go do that.”
With Newton and Hammond on board, Pitt should be done recruiting running backs for the 2021 class. Abanikanda was the Panthers’ lone back in the 2020 class; the year before, Pitt signed Vincent Davis and Daniel Carter, although Carter has since moved to fullback.
In 2018, Pitt landed four-star Mychale Salahuddin; he transferred to North Carolina A&T this offseason. And in 2017, the Panthers signed A.J. Davis and Sibley. Taking Newton and Hammond in this class should provide ample depth for the near future of the position.