Pitt FB Recruiting
Pitt Becomes First Power Five Offer for Florida 2022 OT Leyton Nelson
Leyton Nelson is a developing yet talented junior Class of 2022 offensive tackle from Orlando, Florida. However, he was no doubt on edge waiting for that first Division I offer to come in.
Fortunately for Nelson he received the call(s) that he’d been patiently waiting to get. On Friday, he received his first D-I offer from hometown Central Florida and the following day, the big left tackle got word from Tim Salem that he’d now gotten his first Power Five offer from the Pitt Panthers.
“The past couple days has been surprising but more importantly a huge relief and weight off my shoulders,” Nelson tells Pittsburgh Sports Now. “To get this news is great and allows me to really get going and working more to improve and hopefully get more. I’ve been talking to Pitt for like two weeks now but UCF, I didn’t have any idea that was coming.”
Courtesy of Leyton Nelson
“I was expecting to get the offer from Pitt on Monday, not today (Saturday). Coach Salem was telling me about his time at Pitt and how he knows the Orlando area very well. He told me that he thinks I’d be a great fit up there and that I have a good technique at left tackle and could come up and really help the team. Prior to today, they told me that they’d call next week and to be ready for some news, so I thought with Monday being the first business day that it would come then.”
Obviously, Salem and Pat Narduzzi decided to not wait and gave the news to Nelson on Saturday which obviously made his weekend.
“Coach Salem texted me and told me to call him when I got a chance and that he had some great news for me,” said Nelson. “I thought to myself, no way are they offering today. I called him and he told me that we’re going to go ahead and offer you because Coach Narduzzi looked at your film and thought you were amazing and wanted to offer you right on the spot, so I wanted to let you know ASAP.”
“To hear that compliment from Coach Narduzzi, I was thinking to myself, is this real life, is this really happening. It’s crazy to think that the head coach at Pitt was saying that I was a great player and wanted me to be there was amazing. Then for him to text me and say that to me again personally was just mind-blowing in my opinion.”
Check Out My Junior Season Highlights- https://t.co/6NoNYCJXa0
— Leyton Nelson (@LeytonNelson4) December 20, 2020
When describing those skills that have impressed Pitt, Nelson says that his strengths are his quick feet and speed for his weight and height (6-foot-6, 275 pounds). In terms of blocking, Nelson believes he excels in blocking for outside zone plays as wells as getting off the line for screens and outside runs.
“I’d like to start making some unofficial visits possibly during spring break and early summer,” said Nelson. “I’d like to try and make visits up the coast and to any programs that have offered me.”
