Pitt FB Recruiting
Prediction Time: Who Will Pitt Land?
To use a baseball analogy, the Pitt football staff is rounding third and heading home in their recruiting for their Class of 2017.
With nine days until National Letter of Intent Day, this week will consist of Pat Narduzzi making home visits with potential recruits and the staff checking in with players that have already committed to Pitt.
With the commitment of Kam Carter, Pitt only has a handful of scholarships left to offer. With possible unannounced departures and transfers, only Pat Narduzzi really knows how many more players they can take.
The thing that we do know is the positions and players that the Panthers are trying to add to this class.
Running backs (A.J. Davis, Kyshaun Bryan), Defensive ends (Zion Debose, Kofi Wardlow, Guy Thomas, Marcus Bowman and Victor Dimukeje), Defensive tackle (Jaylen Twyman) and Linebackers (Tyjuan Garbutt and Nathan Proctor) are Pitt’s remaining targets.
Who will Pitt land on or before February 1st?
Defensive Tackle: Despite getting Carter, Pitt still wants to get a commitment from Twyman. The Washington DC defensive tackle plans on making his decision on Letter of Intent Day and I’d be stunned if he doesn’t announce Pitt.
Running Backs: Scholarship wise, I don’t know how this can happen but I believe has a good chance of landing both Davis and Bryan. Of the two, Pitt is more likely to get Bryan but in the end, I think they land both running backs.
Defensive Ends: This is a tough position to accurately try to evaluate. My guess is that Wardlow goes to Notre Dame and Thomas sticks with Nebraska. As far as Debose and Dimukeje, it looks to be a battle between Pitt and Virginia Tech. The question I have with Virginia Tech is, how many scholarships do they have left to offer? That could come into play especially after they flipped 4-star linebacker Dylan Rivers from Penn State. I’m not going to make a prediction on this position because I don’t have a good feel yet.
Linebackers: The question that Pitt fans are asking, will they land either Garbutt or Proctor? My answer to that is yes. Come LOI Day, I believe Pitt will land one of these two elite players and I don’t think it’s out of the question for them to get commitments from both. Who do they have a better chance with? Although neither are guaranteed, I like their chances of getting Garbutt better. I’m told that Proctor is really struggling with the decision and that both schools are even with him. Don’t look for him to make a decision until Signing Day.
