Pitt hasn’t had a player at the Senior Bowl in a couple of years, but that’s changing this time around.
Gavin Bartholomew accepted an invite to the 2025 Senior Bowl, the premier All-Star event for NFL hopefuls. Senior Bowl executive Jim Nagy has long been an admirer of Bartholomew.
Bartholomew was named to the Senior Bowl watchlist before the season. And despite a season in which he wasn’t a focal point of the offense (fifth in targets), he managed another solid season.
Bartholomew went through his fair share of ups and downs this season, as did the Panthers, but he hauled in 37 receptions for 303 yards (8.2 yards per reception) and four touchdowns in 12 games — serving as a team captain.
It was the third-highest yardage total of Bartholomew’s career, and the lowest yards per catch, but he put together one of his best games of the season in the regular season finale against Boston College.
It never truly clicked for Bartholomew and the Panthers following a standout freshman campaign, but he showed flashes in all four seasons in Pittsburgh. And maybe more importantly, he proved to be a true “Pitt man” every step of the way.
“We’d like to get the ball to Gavin,” head coach Pat Narduzzi said in October. “Gavin is probably the unluckiest tight end in the country. When you watch some of the plays where he’s open, we have chances to get him the ball and we haven’t had a chance to get it to him. But he’s open. And we have some nice plays called.
“But that sometimes happens. We’d like to get Gavin more. We’re trying to but for whatever reason it just doesn’t work out that way.”
Bartholomew recorded 18 receptions for 326 yards (18.1 yards per catch) with a touchdown in 2023 on the way to All-ACC honorable mention honors. He had the highest reception percentage (66.7%) and made 3-of-4 contested catches with just a single drop.
In four seasons at Pitt, Bartholomew has recorded 104 receptions for 1,238 yards (11.9 yards per reception) and 11 touchdowns — thriving despite a serious disconnect between Bartholomew and the assortment of quarterbacks throwing the ball his way.
The Senior Bowl is the premier All-Star event of the offseason, with every NFL team and personnel from other professional leagues in attendance.
The 2025 Senior Bowl is set for Feb. 1, 2025, at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Ala. The week-long draft spectacle, which is attended by every NFL team, is capped by the game itself. But the process of running through drills for NFL personnel, meeting with NFL teams and getting your name out there is more valuable than the game itself.
Bartholomew is the first Pitt player to accept an All-Star event, but he won’t be the last in the next few weeks.
