Pitt loses a tight end from the 2019 class

Travis Koontz committed to Pitt this summer because the coaches told him they needed a passing option at tight end.

After watching the Panthers through five games, though, he’s not sure that the tight end usage is what he’s looking for, and now the JUCO prospect will be considering other options after announcing Tuesday morning that he was reopening his commitment.

“I haven’t really been seeing them use the tight end, so that opened my eyes,” Koontz told Panther-Lair.com. “At Ventura, they’re not really using me at tight end, so I have to be sure about this decision.”

So far this season, Koontz has five receptions for 60 yards after three games at Ventura. Those stats are pretty close to what the Panthers tight ends have produced this season: through five games, Tyler Sear and Will Gragg have combined to catch five passes for 30 yards.

In total, Sear and Gragg have been targeted on eight passes in five games; six of those eight targets came in the loss at Central Florida on Saturday, when Gragg had three catches for 21 yards - the first receptions of the season for the Arkansas transfer - and Sear caught one pass for six yards.

Koontz, an Ohio native, was Pitt’s second commitment in the 2019 class, picking the Panthers over offers from LSU, Louisville, Maryland, Nevada, San Diego State and Texas State. He committed at the end of his official visit to Pitt.

“I’ve been talking to schools for quite a bit,” Koontz said. “We have a bye week, so I might go up to UCLA. I still talk to Maryland, too.”

With Koontz off the commitment list, Pitt has 17 verbal pledges for the class of 2019. That includes Jason Collier, a big tight end prospect from New Jersey who committed later in the summer.

As far as Pitt's depth chart, Sear is a sophomore and Gragg is a redshirt junior. The Panthers also have redshirt junior Jim Medure, redshirt freshman Grant Carrigan and freshman Kaymar Mimes, who was moved from defensive end.