Versatile North Carolina State Transfer OL on Visit at Pitt

It’s a busy weekend on the South Side as high school and transfer portal targets are taking official visits at Pitt, and one of those is an interior lineman at the top of the Panthers’ wish list.

Lyndon Cooper — a 6-foot-3, 315-pound offensive lineman from North Carolina State — hit the transfer portal on Dec. 1, has picked up offers from Marshall, Georgia State, East Carolina, Louisville, USF and Pitt and is taking a visit this weekend.

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Cooper told Pittsburgh Sports Now that he’s currently in Pittsburgh for an official visit with the Panthers.

He played 311 snaps for NC State in 2023, serving as a sort of Swiss army knife on the interior — taking 100 snaps at left guard, 191 snaps at center and 20 snaps at right guard. According to PFF, he allowed four pressures, two hurries and two sacks.

Cooper, who redshirted in 2021 as a 17-year-old true freshman, spent 2022 in the same sort of utility role on the interior of the offensive line.

He will have two seasons of eligibility at his next location, and it’s clear that the Pitt coaching staff values his versatility on the inside — looking to upgrade the guard spots heading into 2024.

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 split their decisions — with Goncalves leaving for the NFL and Jacoby choosing to return.

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. Terrence Moore is coming back as the starting center, and BJ Williams and Jason Collier Jr. will return as two of the more experienced interior options as it stands.

Pitt has extended offers to several transfer portal linemen this offseason, but with Cooper taking an official visit, it shows that he’s someone to keep an eye on.

For all your college football transfer portal needs, check out the Portal Report and their Transfer Portal Tracker.

2023-24 College Football Transfer Portal Database