Pitt Offers Sought-After North Dakota Offensive Lineman

The Pitt offensive line simply wasn’t good enough in 2023 as Dave Borbely’s unit dealt with injuries and inconsistent play, and that poor play will need to be corrected in 2024.

Pitt has offered a couple of transfer linemen already this offseason, and the latest is North Dakota left tackle Easton Kilty. He entered the transfer portal last month after back-to-back seasons starting for the Fighting Hawks.

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Pitt is the latest school to offer the FCS transfer, joining the likes of Iowa State, BYU, Virginia Tech, Purdue, North Carolina State, Mississippi State, Boston College, Oklahoma State, Auburn and Texas Tech to reach out.

It appears that Kilty will be a highly sought-after transfer around the college football landscape this offseason.

Appreciate the offer from Pitt! pic.twitter.com/VbDFSL1Dph

— Easton Kilty (@EastonKilty) December 4, 2023

Kilty was a key cog in the North Dakota offense last, making the switch from starting right guard in 2022 to starting left tackle in 2023. He played 707 snaps in 2022 (95% of the Fighting Hawks’ offensive snaps), and according to Pro Football Focus, he graded out as the best-rated ND offensive lineman.

He allowed 10 pressures and seven hurries in 2023, just three sacks in that span, and he played just about every snap at left tackle.

Kilty will have one season of eligibility remaining at his next school.

Pitt worked through a double-digit number of offensive line combinations in 2023, to varying degrees of success, but it’s clear that, for all of the problems offensively, the offensive line play wasn’t good enough.

Jake Kradel and Blake Zubovic, mainstays on the offensive line over the last two seasons, have exhausted their eligibility, and preseason starters Matt Goncalves and Ryan Jacoby have not decided upon their futures yet.

Branson Taylor and Ryan Baer started just about every game at left and right tackle, respectively, after Goncalves went down with an injury, and there’s potential there. BJ Williams and Jason Collier Jr. will return as two of the more experienced interior options now.

Kilty has the added benefit of having started at both tackle and guard during his career at North Dakota, and that versatility would be a major factor at Pitt.

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Get ready for the craziness.

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LINK: https://t.co/ySsu4haVHo pic.twitter.com/eacdWPhzuY

— The Portal Report (@ThePortalReport) December 4, 2023