PITTSBURGH — Pitt will be without its starting left tackle and team captain for the remainder of the season.
Pat Narduzzi announced after the win against Syracuse that Taylor had season-ending surgery and will miss the rest of the season. He watched the Pitt win from the press box, FaceTiming the team afterward.
“Branson is out for the season with a knee,” Narduzzi said after the game. “He’s in good shape right now, on the mend. So we’re going to miss him. He was on FaceTime in the locker room. He’s up in the box today. He had season-ending surgery.”
It’s the third season in a row that Pitt has lost its starting left tackle to injury, following Carter Warren (2022) and Matt Goncalves (2023).
Taylor — a 6-foot-6, 330-pound redshirt senior from Lorain, Ohio — is a tough loss at the most important position on the offensive line (especially from a leadership standpoint), but Terrence Enos Jr. filled in admirably against Cal. And he was effective against Syracuse.
Taylor played 344 snaps this season, all at left tackle, and he was one of the highest-rated offensive linemen on the team. According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed nine pressures and just two sacks this season.
Taylor has played 1,470 snaps at Pitt, was inserted into the starting lineup full-time last season and has allowed 33 pressures and six sacks. He’s played in 45 games during his five seasons in Pittsburgh.
Enos will likely be a starter on the offensive line for the remainder of the season, but it will be interesting to see if the coaching staff decides to move Ryan Baer from right to left tackle.
“I didn’t look a lot of the iPad on offense,” Narduzzi said about Enos. “Got to be honest with you. Again, 44 plays. We’ll look at it. I can’t tell you. We’ll continue to look at that. He’s a tough kid. I think he played okay, so…”
That sucks for a Captain but Eno’s has filled in decently so far. The moving of Ryan Baer to left tackle is an interesting proposition though. That just may turn out to be the best option. Time will tell but until then it’s next man up.