Pitt OL Ryan Jacoby Returning for 2024 Season

Pitt will receive an internal boost on the offensive line in 2024.

Ryan Jacoby — a sixth-year offensive lineman from Mentor, Ohio — confirmed to Pittsburgh Sports Now that he will use his final season of eligibility to return to Pitt next season.

Jacoby was slated to slide into the starting lineup last season at left guard, but a season-ending injury in fall camp derailed those plans. He sat out the season, rehabbed and will be back in the mix in 2024.

“Ryan Jacoby is out for the year,” Pat Narduzzi said in August. “… We’re going to miss him. Let me tell you he was having a heck of a fall. Compared to spring ball, he had footwork issues, wasn’t stepping with the right foot fast enough to get where we wanted to be, but that was all gone.

“That’s a big departure, in my opinion, because he was playing at a high level. But we’re going to get him healthy and get him back. But we’re excited about where he’ll be in the future because of what he’s learned from spring ball to now.”

Jacoby, who transferred to Pitt in 2021 after starting his career at Ohio State, played in three games during the 2021 season — starting the Peach Bowl as the sixth lineman. He played in all 13 games during the 2022 season, serving as an extra lineman and occasional tight end at times, but that experiment is over.

He took 204 snaps in 2022, with all but 10 of those snaps coming as the inline tight end, and he was credited by PFF in allowing four pressures and four hurries.

Jason Collier Jr. and BJ Williams filled in for Jacoby in 2023, to varying degrees of success, and both Collier and Williams will be in the fold in 2024. The interior of the line was a weakness in 2023, and it’s clear that the coaching staff has been looking for reinforcements in the portal.

Jake Kradel, Blake Zubovic and Matt Goncalves will not return next season, with all three testing their luck in the NFL, and it leaves Jacoby as one of the veteran linemen on the roster. He will be relied upon to provide veteran leadership while also looking to retake that starting spot on the offensive line.

As new offensive coordinator Kade Bell implements his new offense this offseason, a major change from how Frank Cignetti Jr. operated, the Pitt offensive line will be expected to take a leap from the 2023 season.