The 2024 NFL Draft is upon us, and the expectation is that Pitt will produce another defensive back selection.
In the last four drafts, the Panthers have heard the name of at least one of their defensive backs get called.
Defensive backs Dane Jackson (Buffalo), Jason Pinnock (New York Jets), Damar Hamlin (Buffalo), Damarri Mathis (Denver), Erick Hallett (Jacksonville) and Brandon Hill (Houston) represented Pitt in the last four drafts.
Since 2018, the secondary has boasted eight draft picks, more than any other position group for the Panthers.
Next on that list is bound to be M.J. Devonshire, who by many accounts is slated to be picked on day three of the draft.
According to the staff at PFF in its recent seven-round mock draft, Devonshire is designated to go 213 overall in the sixth round and Jordan Reid of ESPN has the 5-foot-11 cornerback going 219 overall to the Green Bay Packers.
Regardless of what pick might be used on Devonshire, his selection will carry on the strong tradition of defensive backs picked in the NFL draft over the past decade.
Not only will he represent Pitt but also Aliquippa, a town that has produced three Pro Football Hall of Famers with Mike Ditka, Ty Law and of course, Pitt legend Darrelle Revis, who went 14th overall in the 2007 draft.
Although the hometown kid did not go to Pitt out of high school, after two seasons at Kentucky, Devonshire returned home to star with the Panthers.
In 38 games with Pitt, Devonshire picked off eight passes and returned three for touchdowns with the most notable coming against West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl in 2022.
During his senior season, he played in all 12 games, totaling 32 tackles and 10 pass breakups to lead the ACC on his way to all-conference second team honors.
Devonshire was one of three Panthers invited to the NFL Combine, along with Matt Goncalves and Bub Means.
While in Indianapolis, Devonshire ran a 4.45 40-yard dash, recorded a 38.50” vertical, a 10’4” broad jump and 7.12 3-cone drill.
A large part of the Pitt to NFL success comes from the work that secondary coach Archie Collins has done since arriving in 2018.
Pitt’s defensive approach is not as common in the college game when playing press coverage, but it pays off for corners who wind up in the NFL and find themselves in that scenario on a regular basis.
“Coach Collins do a good job,” Devonshire said at Pitt Pro Day. “The one thing that separates all of us is our mentality. I tell a lot of guys when young guys ask me, ‘What makes you good in a system?’ It’s your mentality. A lot of guys go places, they get to play off. Here, you got to sit and press a guy and you in his face all day and it’s just you and him one-on-one, no help. You on an island, truly, so you got to have the right mentality to be successful in that.”
Pitt’s defensive structure is designed for defensive backs to experience what they will face at the next level and it has helped players transition rather seamlessly.
“That’s what they do in the NFL. They are out there pressing,” Pat Narduzzi said at Pitt Pro Day. “They’re not playing a lot of zone coverage. You better be able to play man coverage and that’s why our guys have had so much success whether that’s Avonte Maddox, Dane Jackson or Damarri Mathis. Coach Collins and coach [Cory] Sanders, the work they put in on the back end with the structure of what we do defensively helps them.”
While Devonshire is receiving a bulk of the draft talk in the secondary, A.J. Woods and Marquis Williams will certainly find themselves in a situation to sign as undrafted free agents.
