Pitt players show off talents for NFL scouts
Since 1994, when the NFL draft was reduced to seven rounds, Pitt has had six players selected only once, back when Larry Fitzgerald led the Panthers’ 2004 draft class. Never in that 17-year span has Pitt had seven or more selections in a year.
The last time seven were selected was 1988, when there were 12 rounds and 333 slots. And the last time seven Panthers were picked within the first 257 spots — the number of openings in April’s draft — was 1983.
After Wednesday’s workout, it’s a real possibility seven Panthers will hear their names called next month.
Pitt’s annual pro day was mostly a success for the 16 prospects in attendance. All 32 NFL teams were represented at the Panthers’ South Side indoor facility, evaluating not only players ranked among the top-10 at their positions, but also a couple of sleepers.
Consensus All-American defensive ends Patrick Jones II and Rashad Weaver worked out. So did safety Damar Hamlin, center Jimmy Morrissey and 2020 opt outs Jaylen Twyman and Paris Ford. Though the NFL Scouting Combine wasn’t held this year in, all six Panthers earned the distinction of being invited and were the main draw for scouts and coaches here.
But two players who weren’t invited to the combine or the Senior Bowl — cornerback Jason Pinnock and wide receiver DJ Turner — also impressed. Turner put up 23 reps in the bench press, which would have been the most among wide receivers at last year’s combine. And Pinnock, as Pat Narduzzi noted, made himself some money.
Pinnock recorded a 39.5inch vertical jump, which would have been tied for second among cornerbacks at last year’s combine. He also logged a 128-inch broad jump and a 4.52-second 40-yard dash. Those figures fell short of Pinnock’s lofty goals of a 40-inch vertical, 132-inch broad jump and 4.43-second 40. For a player who isn’t even listed among Todd McShay’s 237 graded prospects on ESPN, Pinnock might have secured himself a spot in April’s draft.
“There are a lot of things I felt like I should have been at or been invited to and wasn’t. Whether that’s politics or whatever that is, I don’t know. But I just wanted to do what I knew I could do here,” said Pinnock, who has primarily been in contact with the Bengals, Jaguars, 49ers, Chargers and Jets so far. “Even my people joke with me and say, ‘They’re still sleeping.’ But the thing is, the people who will draft me and actually have a say in where I go, they’re not sleeping.”
After Wednesday, it’ll be hard to sleep on Pinnock, who boasts the second-best completion rate ( 37%) among outside corners in college football since 2019, per Pro Football Focus. The same could be said about his former teammates.
Twyman, after opting out of the 2020 season last July, returned to the South Side and proved he wasn’t sitting around while the Panthers played 11 games. The 301pound prospect — McShay’s No. 4 defensive tackle in the class — put up 40 reps on the bench press. Only four players have hit 40 reps in the past eight combines. Twyman even topped his idol, Aaron Donald, who put up 35 back in 2014.
Twyman did, however, post an 8.0-second three-cone drill, less than ideal. Ford, who left the Panthers midseason, also struggled with a few of the drills. The Pittsburgh native clocked 40-yard dash times of 4.90 and 4.83 seconds, stumbling from the start on both tries. His 29inch vertical and 4.53-second shuttle were also subpar.
Ford, McShay’s No. 6 safety, wasn’t totally pleased with his day, calling it “decent.” But the hard-hitting defensive back, who had 142 tackles and 20 passes defended in 20 games the past two seasons, said that “the film speaks for itself.”
Hamlin, a top-five safety prospect who put up a 4.59 40yard dash, agreed with Ford, saying he ultimately just wants “to be somewhere on that 53-man roster making plays.” Morrissey, McShay’s No. 5 center and a day three prospect, feels the same way.
“I told my agent I don’t want to hear it,” the firstteam All-ACC honoree said of mock drafts and projections. “If I’m drafted in the first round or the seventh round, it’s not going to affect the way I work or prepare for this upcoming season.”
Morrissey saw six Panthers from the 2019 team who didn’t get a pro day because of COVID-19 cancellations — linebacker Saleem Brightwell, defensive tackle Amir Watts, wide receiver Aaron Mathews, tight end Will Gragg, safety Jazzee Stocker and quarterback Jeff George Jr. — work out for scouts. And he chatted with the likes of Weaver and Jones, Pitt’s top-rated prospects.