The NFL Draft is set to begin tonight in Kansas City and a number of former Pitt stars are hoping to hear their names called over the course of the next three days. As a program, Pitt has had a player drafted every year since 2014. There have been 19 players who have played under Pat Narduzzi at Pitt to hear their names called in the NFL Draft.
Pitt had six players off of the 2022 team invited to the NFL Combine and had 13 participants at the program’s Pro Day last month and those hopefuls will look to have their professional dreams fulfilled this weekend. Here are the biggest storylines for the 2023 NFL Draft as it pertains to Pitt.
Kancey looks to make history
Calijah Kancey is certainly one of the most intriguing prospects in the entire NFL Draft prospect pool heading into this weekend. Kancey was a wrecking ball anchoring Pitt’s defensive like the past two seasons and is coming off of an All-American season in 2022.
He produced at a high level on the field of play throughout his college career and did everything he could to back that up as he navigated through the pre-draft process over the past few months. Kancey measured in at 6’1” and 281 pounds at the combine, bigger than most scouts were expecting. He ran a 4.67 in the 40-yard dash, the best running score for a defensive tackle since 2003, also a time just a split faster than former Pitt great and current NFL star Aaron Donald.
Kancey has had to take on a lot of comparisons to Donald during the lengthy offseason leading up to the draft. Being compared to an all-time great defensive linemen is unfair, but it’s undeniable he shares similar traits to that of Donald. They play the same position, have a similar build, went to the same college, and play the same way.
Heading into tonight's first round, Kancey will also be looking to join Donald, along with Bill Maas and Sean Gilbert, as the fourth Pitt defensive tackle to be selected in the first round in program history. Kancey’s projections in many mock drafts have him going in the first round, but of course the draft can be unpredictable. He has been projected to go as high as being picked somewhere in the top 20, but some have had him falling to the Philadelphia Eagles with the 30th pick, which would be cutting it close. In any event, should Kancey’s name get called during Thursday's first round, he would join 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers first round pick Kenny Pickett as the first Pitt duo to be first round picks in back to back years. The last time Pitt had back-to-back first round picks was when Darrelle Revis went to the Jets in 2007, and Jeff Otah being a first round pick of the Panthers in 2008.
Izzy runs to the league
Pitt has a long, illustrious history when it comes to putting running backs to the NFL. Tony Dorsett, Curtis Martin, and LeSean McCoy are among the all-time top 25 rushers in league history. James Conner has been a regular starter in the league for the past five seasons, but there has been a lull with Pitt sending backs to the league and Israel Abanikanda will look to change that heading into this weekend.
Abanikanda posted a prolific season in 2022 that matched many of the great names in Pitt history. He set the all-time marks in Pitt history with 320 rushing yards in a single game, and tied a school-record with six touchdowns. He rushed for 1,431 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2022, becoming only the fourth player in Pitt history to rush for 20 scores in a single season joining Conner, Dorsett, and McCoy, and now Abanikanda will look to follow in their footsteps as a professional.
Abanikanda will look to become the first Pitt running back to get drafted since Qadree Ollison went in the 5th round to the Atlanta Falcons back in 2019. Abanikanda would be the third running back to play for Narduzzi to get drafted, joining Conner and Ollison, but he would also be the first one to be recruited by this coaching staff out of high school.
Abanikanda went from a three-star prospect out of Brooklyn, to a mistake prone young player, to ACC first teamer, to NFL draft hopeful in a seemingly short amount of time. He is also a bit young for an NFL prospect, as he is still only 20 years old too, which should only help his stock.
The other thing working in his favor is his physical ability. Abanikanda was unable to fully participate in the NFL Combine, but he got to show what he could do at Pitt’s pro day and to the surprise of nobody, he shined in that type of setting running a 40-yard dash that reportedly would have been the fastest at the combine. He may not be the first back off the board, but could go earlier than some are expecting.
Can Brandon Hill add to DBU?
Pitt is still a ways off before making the claim of being ‘Defensive Back U’, but the Panthers are on the right path under Narduzzi. Since 2015 Pitt has had six defensive backs drafted, and Brandon Hill will look to make that seven this weekend.
Hill started 25 games over the past two seasons and was a second team All-ACC selection in 2021. Hill ran a 4.43 40-yard dash at the combine, which was the fastest for any safety. Considering guys like Jordan Whitehead and Damar Hamlin as former Pitt safeties who have had success in the league, there is good reason to believe Hill could join those players.
If Hill were to get selected, that would give Pitt five defensive backs drafted in the past four years. The Panthers have not only been successful in sending guys to the league, but having early impacts. Dane Jackson and Damarri Mathis along with Hamlin have had success and big roles early on in their careers.
Ending a streak
Although players like Rashad Weaver and Ejuan Price may have been drafted as linebackers by their pro teams, an actual Pitt linebacker has not been drafted since Scott McKillop in 2008. Pitt senior captain, SirVocea Dennis, will look to end that streak this weekend as he has a chance to have his name called after a highly decorated college career.
Dennis was an unknown recruit Pitt took a chance on at the last second in the class of 2019, but he quickly asserted himself as a young player in this defense. Dennis gradually worked himself into one of the best linebackers in the country over the past four seasons and is one of the more intriguing linebackers in this year's draft.
The Syracuse native was a third-team All-ACC pick in 2020, second in 2021, and was first team this past year. He started 25 consecutive games for Pitt at middle linebacker and equated himself well at the pro day in March. Dennis has also been noted as being a cerebral player during the pre-draft process. Scouts have raved about that aspect of his game in recent weeks, and it could be a leading factor in him being drafted this weekend.
Under the radar
Carter Warren came back to Pitt in 2022 to try to improve his draft stock and help the team have another big season. Warren turned down a Senior Bowl invite after Pitt's 2021 ACC Championship season. He would have likely been drafted somewhere last year, but wanted one more year to showcase his ability. Warren's former teammate, Kenny Pickett, had the ultimate success story of executing that exact plan in 2021.
Warren did not have the dream ending to his college career like Pickett, however. He was injured and only played four games during his senior season and lost out on the chance of improving his draft stock. Warren still has a solid resume to stand on with 39 career starts and a lot of film out there already. He helped protect Pickett’s blindside during his historic 2021 campaign and teams are well aware of him by now.
The big 6’5” and 325-pound tackle prospect will likely get drafted this weekend, despite losing out on playing most of the 2022 season. He already had solid credentials and most mock drafts have him landing as a late round pick, and he should become the first Pitt linemen to be picked since former teammate Jimmy Morrissey went in the seventh round back in 2021.
Can Pitt match six?
The NFL Draft went to its current seven-round format in 1994. Since then, the best individual years for Pitt in terms of having players drafted have been in 2004 and 2021. Pitt had six players drafted in each of those years, and looking at the depth of this year’s class, this group of former Panthers could potentially match that number of six.
Kancey, Abanikanda, and Warren all seem like safe assumptions to get drafted this weekend. Hill and Dennis are certainly in positions to join them as well. But is there anyone beyond that who could hear their named called this weekend?
I think the obvious answer is Habakkuk Baldonado. He seems like he has the most potential to be that next guy drafted outside of those first five names. Baldonado was a breakout star in 2021, but did not match that kind of production in 2022. Still, the native of Italy has gotten some solid reviews over the course of the past couple of months and has an intriguing build and backstory. Recent Pitt defensive ends like Rashad Weaver and Patrick Jones were selected back in 2021, and Baldonado has similar traits to those guys.
In addition to Baldonado, there is some hope for guys like Jared Wayne, Erick Hallett, Marcus Minor, and Deslin Alexandre. They were all key players in Pitt's recent run of 20 wins over the past two years and at the very least will be undrafted free agents.
