Pitt’s 2018 Recruiting Class is Underrated

A common line of thinking on message boards and Twitter is that Pitt’s upcoming recruiting class is down and not as good as the last two years.

Following Friday’s huge upset of #2 Miami, I read people writing that maybe the win would help improve what has been a down year of recruiting by the Pitt staff.

Pitt football recruiting coverage sponsored by

RM LAW, P.C. is a boutique litigation law firm with a national practice dedicated to protecting shareholders’ interests and promoting improved corporate governance practices.

Maybe it’s because they only have 13 commitments or maybe it’s because it’s not ranked in the Top 30, but I’m a bit confused by this line of thinking.

Due to the limited number of scholarships available, Pitt’s Class of 2018 was never going to be ranked high. The fact is Pitt isn’t getting 5-star recruits and only gets a few 4-star recruits.  When that’s the case and you’re only offering 19-20 scholarships, you’re not going to be ranked in the Top 20.

That’s life, get over it.

All this being said, this doesn’t mean Narduzzi isn’t bringing in a talented group of recruits because I believe he is.

Narduzzi and his staff are the experts at this and I trust their eye for talent and finding players that fit their system.

Last year, they got a commitment from a player with only three major offers (Boston College, Iowa and North Carolina). That player was New Jersey quarterback Kenny Pickett.

Point is, a “good recruit” shouldn’t be based on whether he’s a 4-star or if he’s offered by Alabama, Ohio State or Michigan.

The other reason I’m not understanding people’s criticism of Pitt’s Class of 2018 is that if you’re into offers, a majority of Pitt’s commitments received offers from good programs prior to giving a verbal to the Panthers.

Some of these offers may not have been commitable at the point these players joined Pitt but the bottom line is that they were talented enough to get an offer from these programs to begin with.

Here’s a look at some of the programs that extended offers to Pitt’s 2018 commitments.

DT David Green: Iowa State, Minnesota, Virginia Tech and West Virginia

Courtesy of David Green

CB Marquis Williams: Clemson, Louisville, Michigan State, Mississippi State, NC State, Penn State, Wisconsin

Pitt 2018 commit Marquise Williams

DT Devin Danielson: Iowa, Louisville, Michigan State, UCLA, West Virginia and Wisconsin

TE Matt Alaimo: Arizona State, Arizona, Louisville, Minnesota, NC State, Virginia Tech and West Virginia

OT Blake Zubovic: Boston College, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, Virginia Tech, West Virginia

Courtesy of Blake Zubovic

OT Chase Brown: Minnesota, TCU, Virginia Tech and West Virginia

DE John Morgan: Penn State, Virginia Tech and Maryland

LB Wendell Davis: Boston College, Michigan State and West Virginia

Courtesy of Wendell Davis

CB Judson Tallandier: Arizona, Georgia, Minnesota, NC State and Purdue

OL Jake Kradel: Iowa, NC State, Purdue, UCLA, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Ohio State

Courtesy of Jake Kradel

Finally, keep in mind that Pitt’s first commitment, Thomas Jefferson DE Noah Palmer, made his decision so early he never really allowed his recruitment to begin.

Starting today, Pitt will be on the road looking to add 6-7 players to this class. Will they be able to add any 4-Star players? Maybe, maybe not. If they are only rated a 3-star players, don’t automically assume that it’s not a good pickup.

Trust the evaluation eyes of the Pitt coaching staff.