Pitt Football
Three Defensive Storylines to Follow During Pitt Spring Camp
With Pitt football’s spring camp underway, Pittsburgh Sports Now has been breaking down different areas of the program from top returning players to potential risers in camp and offensive storylines.
There are also plenty of areas to pay attention to when it comes to the defensive side of the ball as the Panthers will have to replace a handful of starters and fill some depth positions as well.
Here are three defensive storylines to follow during Pitt spring camp:
Who Fills Starting Defensive End Opening?
Sincere Edwards was on the rise to being an everyday starter for the Panthers as a sophomore in 2025. Instead, he bolted back home to UCF — a school he was previously committed to during his high school process before landing at Pitt.
Veteran Nate Matlack is gone as well, leaving Jimmy Scott as the lone starting returner at defensive end. Scott put up some solid numbers as a redshirt sophomore with 30 tackles, 12.5 for a loss and six sacks as he looks to only get better over the course of spring came heading into the upcoming season.
As for the other end, it is wide open with multiple candidates ready to jump into the mix. Transfers Blaine Spires (Utah State), Jaeden Moore (Oregon) and Joey Zelinsky (Eastern Michigan), along with veteran grad student Nate Temple and rising redshirt sophomore Maverick Gracio are all possibilities to earn some serious playing time at end for Pitt.
Temple, who enters his seventh season of eligibility after suffering an injury before the 2024 season, is a key candidate to take back the starting job he once owned in 2023. As a redshirt senior, Temple started nine games, compiling 26 tackles, 4.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks.
Pittsburgh Panthers defensive lineman Nate Temple (6) November 4, 2023 David Hague/PSN
The 6-4, 250-pound talent was set to battle with Nate Matlack ahead of the 2024 campaign, but his injury brought it all to a halt. He did manage to squeeze in three games before the end of the season, totaling two tackles and 1.5 for a loss.
Along with Temple, Spires and Zelinsky bring a veteran edge. Spires enters is seventh season after spending four seasons at Bowling Green before transferring to Utah State for the last two seasons. In 2023, he recorded 27 tackles, 8.5 for loss and five sacks. Last fall, the 6-3, 230-pound edge started the first four games before missing the remainder of the season with an injury.
Zelinsky will head into his fifth season of collegiate football. The Blue Mountain High School product comes to the Panthers from Eastern Michigan after registering 29 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles in 2024.
Spires and Zelinsky will be welcomed additions with plenty of playing experience, but it will be interesting to watch their development as they move up to the Power Four level.
Oregon transfer Jaeden Moore is another edge rushing option for Pitt but at a much younger experience level. He served as a depth piece for the Ducks as a sophomore, racking up six tackles (one solo), a tackle for loss, a half sack and a pass breakup.
Moore and Gracio will be younger options for the Panthers that could make a push to earn more and more snaps as the offseason goes.
Who Will be the Next Breakout Linebacker?
Pitt’s linebacker corps broke out last season with Kyle Louis playing at a First-Team All-American level, Rasheem Biles turning in an All-ACC season and Braylan Lovelace offering a very productive campaign as well.
Lovelace looks to shift inside at the ‘Mike’ linebacker position after Brandon George and Keye Thompson exhausted their eligibility. Jordan Bass is also off to Virginia Tech. That leaves a lot of room for a lot of young pieces to make some inroads on the depth chart.
The Panthers’ linebacker depth will rely on a lot of unproven underclassmen other than rising redshirt senior Nick Lappi, who has played in 36 games over the last three seasons on special teams and as a reserve linebacker.
Jeremiah Marcelin, who burned his redshirt after playing 10 games this past season, is most likely to back up Lovelace in the middle, but how much of an impact can he bring? He has a lot of good qualities to him, including a solid 6-foot-2, 235-pound frame and a quick, which makes him a prime candidate to breakout.
— Jeremiah Marcelin (@m1ahhh__) September 23, 2024
Ohio State transfer Jayden Bonsu is another option to make a statement as a backup after initially projecting as a safety. He’ll move into the ‘Star’ position and will contend for snaps with Cameron Lindsey and freshman Emmanuel Taylor.
Lindsey and Davin Brewton preserved their redshirts but will be let loose this season by Ryan Manalac as Pitt will look to build up its depth pieces for the coming years.
There is a lot of raw talent in the linebacker room, but those young backers have a strong trio of playmakers to learn from as they continue to grow.
Can Cruce Brookins Secure a Starting Safety Role?
Brookins was a riser during spring and fall camp last year and it translated onto the field as he appeared in 12 games with 35 tackles, two interceptions and two pass breakups as a redshirt freshman.
The Steel Valley product will be a top option to slide into a starting role with Donovan McMillon and P.J. O’Brien gone, but there is still work to be done in the coming weeks.
Pittsburgh Panthers defensive back Cruce Brookins (12) December 26, 2024 David Hague/PSN
He will be challenged by incoming UC Davis transfer Kavir Bains, who enters his last season of collegiate eligibility. Bains appeared in 36 games over the last three seasons, including 14 starts a year ago for the Aggies with a career-high 83 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, three interceptions and one forced fumble and recovery.
Jesse Anderson, along with Allen Bryant are a few younger options for Pitt that can also test themselves for significant roles as two-deep backups at safety for the Panthers.
For Brookins, he showed a lot of promise last year as a major contributor in the secondary and it will be up to him to put together another strong camp and secure a starting safety role.
