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Pat Narduzzi’s defense, at least for the time being, is littered with the word “or.”

Pitt released its initial depth chart on Monday morning, with the two-deep featuring plenty of uncertainty on the defensive starting 11.

The defensive depth chart features three different positions with co-starters listed: defensive end (Dewayne Hendrix or Rashad Weaver), free safety (Jazzee Stocker or Bricen Garner) and cornerback (Dane Jackson or Damarri Mathis).

Narduzzi has been prone to listing multiple starters throughout his tenure at Pitt, but with all the youth on defense this year, the uncertainty plus the inexperience could lend itself to a lot of maneuvering early on in the season.

Still, Pitt’s head coach is happy where his depth is at.

“If you give me an All-American that’s had 12 game, 15 game experience, with someone pushing him, I’d take him,” Narduzzi said. “But I do like the competition. I like that we have two guys that can go in there.”

At the defensive end position, Hendrix began last season as the Panthers’ starting end, but suffered a season-ending foot injury in the first game of the season.

With Hendrix still recovering, redshirt freshman Rashad Weaver, who was a late addition to Pitt’s 2016 recruiting class after decommitting from Michigan, has gained some ground.

“Rashad is playing really well,” Narduzzi said. “We feel really good about Dewayne Hendrix, and we feel really good about Rashad Weaver. He’s playing really good football and we’re excited. That’s a good ‘or.’”

The free safety position will likely only be up in the air until Jordan Whitehead returns from his three-game suspension, while team captain Dennis Briggs seems to have the strong safety job on lockdown.

Despite the inexperience of Stocker, a redshirt sophomore, and Garner, a redshirt freshman, Narduzzi is happy with the progress they’ve made, and thankful that he’s had time to prepare for life without Whitehead.

“I feel good [about their progress],” Narduzzi said. “I feel a lot better than if I would have had to make that decision this week… We’ll be fine.”

He affirmed that he thinks the “or” for Stocker and Garner is literal, as he genuinely considers the two co-starters at the position.

The final alternate starter listing might be the most interesting, as the true freshman Damarri Mathis is testing a third-year player in Dane Jackson.

Pitt coaches have been raving about Mathis all camp, and Narduzzi says that’s for good reason.

“Damarri Mathis, he’s a football player, he’s not in there because there’s a lack of talent,” Narduzzi said. “I can’t wait to watch him play. He might be a freshman out there on September second, but not one day in practice has he acted like a freshman.”

Mathis, at 5-foot-11, 185 pounds was a three-star recruit from Lakeland, Florida.

Along with the listed “or’s”, Narduzzi also noted that, despite graduate transfer Matt Flanagan’s listing as the starting tight end, both he and Chris Clark are essentially co-starters as well, with Flanagan’s consistency edging out Clark’s explosiveness.

In the end, even with nearly a month of training camp in the books, Narduzzi is simply waiting for actual gameday production to separate players.

“You know what we’re going to find out?” Narduzzi said. “We’re going to find out who plays and who doesn’t in the game.”