Roster analysis
A breakdown of Pitt’s defense as preseason camp begins.
Football is ( kind of) here.
Pitt’s training camp started with a Friday morning practice. The Panthers, eyeing a Coastal Division title, have less than a month until their season kicks off against Sept. 4 against Massachusetts.
After assessing where Pitt’s offense stands entering camp, now it’s time for the defense. Let’s take a look at how the unit looks, position by position, entering Pat Narduzzi’s seventh season at the helm.
Defensive end
Primary options: Deslin Alexandre (redshirt senior), Habakkuk Baldonado (RS junior), John Morgan (RS junior), Nate Temple (RS sophomore), Dayon Hayes (RS freshman), Sam Williams (RS freshman), Nahki Johnson ( freshman), Naquan Brown (freshman).
Thoughts: Each of the past two seasons, Pitt has been forced to replace a significant pass-rusher during training camp. Rashad Weaver went down with an ACL tear in August 2019, while Jaylen Twyman opted out last year. Defensive line coach Charlie Partridge will be hoping for a healthy and happy group. Weaver and Patrick Jones, two consensus All-Americans, are gone, and it’ll be on Alexandre, Baldonado and Morgan to make up for that lost production (16.5 sacks by Jones and Weaver last season). Westinghouse’s Hayes should get an extended look in the rotation. Four-star talents Johnson and Brown are freshmen but could play.
Defensive tackle
Primary options: Calijah Kancey ( RS sophomore), Devin Danielson ( RS junior), Keyshon Camp ( super senior), David Green (RS junior), Tyler Bentley (RS junior).
Thoughts: Midway through camp in 2019, a three-way race for two starting spots became a two-man battle for one opening. Twyman, then an unproven redshirt sophomore, separated himself from Camp and Amir Watts — eventually breaking out with an All-American campaign. Can Kancey do the same? The Bednarik Award and Nagurski Trophy watch list player impressed with seven tackles for a loss as a freshman and is expected to make a sizable impact. But he’ll still face competition from Danielson, Camp, Green and Bentley, all of whom have starting experience. Summer enrollees Elliot Donald and Dorien Ford are worth watching.
Linebacker
Primary options: Cam Bright (RS senior), SirVocea Dennis (junior), Phil Campbell (super senior), Chase Pine (super senior), Wendell Davis (RS junior), John Petrishen (super senior), Bangally Kamara (RS freshman), Brandon George (junior).
Thoughts: This is not just the deepest position at Pitt, but perhaps the best linebacker group top to bottom in the ACC. Bright’s 17.5 TFLs over the past two years was second on the team to only Jones’ 25. Dennis — who is healthy after missing spring ball, Narduzzi told the Post-Gazette — was tied for eighth nationally with 14.5 TFLs in 2020. Campbell has 10 sacks over the past two seasons. Davis was an emerging starter until an injury shut him down in September 2020. Pine has appeared in 45 games. And Petrishen is as seasoned as they come, entering his seventh season.
Kamara and Solomon DeShields are redshirt freshmen champing at the bit. New linebackers coach Ryan Manalac couldn’t ask for a better situation.
Cornerback
Primary options: Damarri Mathis (super senior), Marquis Williams (RS junior), Rashad Battle (sophomore), AJ Woods (junior), Jahvante Royal ( RS freshman), Khalil Anderson (freshman).
Thoughts: Pitt has to replace a drafted cornerback for the second year in a row. Dane Jackson contributed with the Bills last year, and Jason Pinnock seems to be doing the same early on with the Jets. Perhaps the last member of Pitt’s 2019 trio will hear his name called by the NFL next April. Mathis ( 13 passes defended two years ago) was rusty in spring ball. But Narduzzi hopes he can return to form following a 2020 season-ending injury and lead a unit with a lot to prove. Williams grew as last season continued, more often than not sticking with his man in Narduzzi’s press quarters coverage. Battle showed flashes of why he was a four-star recruit. And Anderson — a summer enrollee who picked Pitt over Penn State, Miami and a host of Southeastern Conference schools — has the ability to contribute immediately.
Safety
Primary options: Brandon Hill (RS sophomore), Erick Hallett (RS junior), M.J. Devonshire (RS sophomore), Judson Tallandier (RS junior), Buddy Mack ( RS freshman), P. J. O’Brien (freshman).
Thoughts: Pitt’s defense could be a top unit in the ACC. It also could be the reason why Narduzzi’s team gets bogged down in mediocrity. Partridge is expected to reload up front, and the linebacker position, as previously mentioned, is wildly deep. The unit’s successes or shortcomings will likely hinge on the secondary — and a significant part of that is replacing Damar Hamlin and Paris Ford. The latter left the team midseason, and Hill was a promising option. But Hamlin’s experience (40 starts, 290 tackles) will be tougher to fill. Hallett, after missing spring camp with an injury, is expected to be fullgo. The Swiss Army knife defensive back will compete with Devonshire, an Aliquippa native and Kentucky transfer, for Hamlin’s old spot. Both will play regardless of who wins the job; Hallett and Devonshire have experience at nickel corner and provide defensive coordinator Randy Bates increased flexibility.
Specialists
Thoughts: The Panthers have two preseason All-Americans on special teams — punter Kirk Christodoulou and long-snapper Cal Adomitis. That’s the good news. The bad news? Alex Kessman is booming field goals for the NFL’s Chargers, not the Panthers. Ben Sauls, Pitt’s lone scholarship place- kicker, is likely the successor to Kessman, the program’s all-time leader in field goals. Sauls, meanwhile, is inexperienced with only one collegiate extra point under his belt. Narduzzi said at ACC media days that he hopes Sauls is kicking only PATs this year; Pitt’s red-zone touchdown conversion rate was 90th nationally in 2020. More of a killer instinct in the red zone should lighten the burden on Sauls’ young shoulders.