Kancey builds his visibility
Lineman could be top NFL draft pick
When Pitt football recorded eight sacks against Virginia in the Panthers’ 377 win, it put Pitt at 37 sacks on the season. That leads all FBS teams after 11 weeks of play, a pace that’s more fitting with the last three seasons of Pitt defense, when the Panthers finished among the top three teams in sack totals in the country each year.
That’s been charged by the Panthers’ leading sack man, Calijah Kancey. He destroyed the Cavaliers’ offensive line, sacked Brennan Armstrong three times, and helped set up other Pitt defenders’ sacks during the game. That performance pushed Kancey to be the Panthers’ pass-rush leader with seven sacks, which is 25th among FBS players.
Kancey entered the season with the general projected range to end up as an NFL draft prospect who could be selected between the first and third rounds. In the middle of his best season, having matched his career high of seven sacks set last year, Kancey has raised his profile. Pro Football Focus’ big board has him ranked as the 45th-best overall prospect of the draft and the fourth-best ranked interior defensive line prospect.
The only three prospects ranked ahead of Kancey heading into the season were Georgia’s Jalen Carter, Clemson’s Bryan Bresee, and Baylor’s Siaki Ika. After 11 weeks, Kancey currently has a 90.8 grade that ranks him as the sixth-best graded defensive line prospect. Carter is the only top-ranked defensive lineman with a higher grade than Kancey on the season.
What’s helped Kancey the most is how he’s added several traits as a pass rusher at Pitt, and each of them were on display Saturday. Kancey used to be a player who relied upon his burst off the line as his best way of beating offensive linemen. But now, he’s mixed in proper hand usage into his skills to be a more complete threat. His first sack against Virginia came on an attempted flea flicker, as Kancey used his hands to punch his opponent and establish leverage so that he could rip past him to get after Armstrong and finish the play.
Narduzzi used to note when Kancey was a redshirt freshman in 2020 how Kancey was “lightning quick” but had to sharpen his game. During the past three seasons, that sharpening has turned him into a player who’s ready to make plays.
“He does his work, shuts his mouth and plays ball,” Narduzzi said of Kancey’s work ethic. “He’s always got a smile on his face, always happy and trying to get better. Coach [Charlie] Partridge has done a great job with him. Some of the best guys are just steady. The guy’s a beast.”
Pitt even used Kancey to line up on the edge at times to be off the ball and still use his natural skills, just as he did in the fourth quarter when he swung Armstrong down with one arm.
But Kancey’s also learned how to play as an aggressive pass rusher within a team. On a play following one of Kancey’s sacks in the third quarter, the redshirt junior set up a sack for Habakkuk Baldonado with how he twisted from a zero technique into three-gap before the opposing guard could even get a hand on him. Kancey didn’t bring down Armstrong, but he pushed him up in the pocket, where Baldonado twisted from the five-technique and ran right up the middle of Virginia’s offensive line. Kancey’s rush opened up a clear lane for Baldonado to finish the play.
Kancey creates a problem for opposing offensive lines even when they do have a player in position to stop him. How quick he is to get off the ball makes him a challenge for linemen to get their footwork in position. But even when they are, Kancey has grown in his hand technique to win with passive and aggressive moves.
Not only does Kancey use power with initial punches to create separation, but he also counters opponents who anticipate one of his power moves. A sack during the fourth quarter was a great example, as he faked going for a punch and instead slapped down the striking hands of his opponent so he could run right past him and sack Armstrong for the third time.
NFL scouts will most certainly see the diversity in the way Kancey wins plays, especially as an interior pass rusher. There’s been a premium on players who could win from that position to sack quarterbacks. Georgia saw two defensive linemen in Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt be drafted in the first round, and teams are looking for the next-best pass rushers who can destroy the middle of a line’s protection.
If Kancey finishes strong, he’ll make a strong case to be one of the closest-observed defenders at the NFL scouting combine in February and March.