Pitt FB Recruiting
Pitt Made 2025 3-Star EDGE Feels Like a Priority During Junior Day
Pitt hosted well over 30 recruits from the classes of 2025 and 2026 for Junior Day over the weekend, and Jayden Loftin left feeling like the Panthers really wanted him.
Loftin — a 6-foot-4, 235-pound three-star edge rusher from Somerville High in Somerville, N.J. — checked out Pittsburgh for the first time on Junior Day, and it was an experience that set the foundation for a good relationship.
“The visit was cool,” Loftin told Pittsburgh Sports Now. “I’m glad I finally got to see it. I actually have somebody I used to go to school with going to Pitt, and he was always telling me how nice it is, so I’m glad I finally got to see it.
“When we got there, we ate a little bit, talked to some of the coaches while we were eating and had a meeting with the head coach, glad I finally got to meet him as well, we talked about the program, the direction he wanted to go with the program, took some pictures and went to the basketball game. It was a good day.”
Pitt jumped into the fold for Loftin back last November, with Tiquan Underwood serving as that early point of contact, but Loftin spent a lot of time with Pat Narduzzi on Saturday — most of his time even.
The connection with Narduzzi, spending most of Junior Day with the head coach stood out. It made him feel like a real priority. But it was the overall experience that stood out.
“The crowd at the basketball game was very into it, you could just tell how passionate they are about their sports over there,” Loftin said. “And talking to the D-line coach as well. He filled me, talking about the schemes and what kind of defense they run.”
Charlie Partridge will obviously not be his position coach, should he choose to come to Pitt, but Loftin is in a good place with Pitt. He feels like Pitt is on the rise, too.
“It’s one where in the past they’ve had a lot of success, winning the ACC in 2021, I believe,” Loftin said. “They’re definitely one on the rise, they’ve got a lot of pieces coming back, got a lot of pieces coming in, so I feel like they’re gonna be good in the years to come.”
Loftin is a piece that Pitt would like to be coming in over the next couple of seasons. He’s a long, athletic edge with the ability to beat opposing offensive linemen with speed or power — and he has the frame to be able to add plenty of muscle mass.
“They like my play style,” Loftin said. “I’m able to get off the ball fast and attack the quarterback, so I can be kind of versatile.”
Rivals rates Loftin as the 24th-ranked recruit from New Jersey in the class, holding a 5.6 Rivals Rating, and while he isn’t ranked by 247Sports or On3, that will change soon. He’s a recruit on the rise at this point.
Loftin holds offers from Boston College, UConn, Georgia Tech, Liberty, UMass, Pitt, South Carolina, Syracuse, Temple, Tennessee and West Virginia at this point in his recruitment, and he’s expecting a busy summer.
The plan is to check out Tennessee in April and Texas in June, and he holds spring invites from Miami and Michigan State, too. Loftin would like to be able to see a school, with his parents, and be able to see first-hand if he’d be a fit at that location.
Pitt made a strong first impression, and there’s likely a spring visit in the future.
“(Pitt is) definitely a top five school,” Loftin said. “The relationship that I’ve built with the coaches is going to be one that sticks with me throughout the whole process.”
Pitt landed its first commitment in the class of 2025 Monday night in the form of Trevor Sommers, a defensive lineman from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and there could very well be more on the way in the coming days and weeks.
The Panthers are in the mix for four-star linebacker Dayshaun Burnett (Pittsburgh, Pa.), three-star athlete Emmanuel Taylor (Virginia Beach, Va.), three-star offensive lineman Raphael Greene (Cincinnati, Ohio), four-star wide receiver Jadyn Robinson (San Juan Capistrano, Cal.), three-star running back Jeffrey Overton Jr. (Woodbridge, Va.), three-star athlete Jaiden Brown-Demery (Mest Mifflin, Pa.) and three-star edge rusher Sharlandiin Strange (Wyncote, Pa).
