The 3-2-1 Column: Calijah Kancey heads to Tampa and transfer portal talk JimHammett with more:
we are talking all about the NFL Draft and how it relates to Pitt. Last night, Calijah Kancey was selected 19th overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, making him Pitt’s 27th all-time first round draft pick.
Pitt liked Kancey from the start, while many other programs missed the boat. After a redshirt season, he flourished in a defensive system catered to his abilities and playing style. Kancey was named a freshman All-American in 2020, and he helped lead Pitt to an ACC Championship in 2021 while collecting All-ACC honors.
Kancey was a productive player in college and he backed it all up at the combine and everything else he had to do leading up to last night’s first round and ultimately he was rewarded for all of that by being picked in the top 20.They had a darn good idea what they were getting in Kancey, and they also have a pretty strategic plan moving forward with how they recruit this position as well.
Pitt is very excited about redshirt freshman Sean FitzSimmons, a disruptive player on the defensive line expected to break through this year. The Panthers top-rated incoming true freshman, Isaiah Neal, is a smaller defensive tackle who fits into the mold of this defense perfectly and already has high expectations. The current 2024 recruiting class is headlined by, you guessed it, a small, quicker defensive tackle in four-star Jahsear Whittington.
Epps, a native of Texas, was a four-star recruit in the class of 2018. He was initially committed to play for Nick Saban and Alabama before flipping his commitment to stay home and play for the Texas Longhorns. Epps started his career out in Austin as a wide receiver before making the move to tight end.
Pitt has had some success in recent years in adding veteran players who have made quick impacts and will be hoping the same thing happens this year. Heading into the 2023 season, the Panthers will be expecting big impacts from transfers like Phil Jurkovec, Shayne Simon, and MJ Devonshire to name a few.
Given the backstory here, Epps has a similar profile to Krull, who turned out to be a very valuable weapon in his one healthy season at Pitt. They both stand in at 6’6” and have bounced around for colleges without tons of production. Pitt always believed Krull’s size and athleticism would work out, and they were rewarded in that belief with 38 catches and six touchdowns in 2021.
Pitt has always felt like it has been in scramble mode in some recent off-seasons, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does make things hectic when they are reaching out to seemingly every player who enters the transfer portal.
Pitt is set to host Thomasson next weekend, which will be his last official visit before making a decision. Thomasson has an announced commitment date of May 10th. The Panthers are perfect so far in hosting visits during this transfer portal season and getting him on campus, especially getting the last word in, could be significant in his decision.
Pitt lost some big-time players off of last year’s team with the graduation of Jamarius Burton, Nelly Cummings. Greg Elliott, and Nike Sibande, but it returned a core group led by senior forward Blake Hinson. Pitt has some intriguing options in the backcourt, and the front court is certainly promising with the Diaz Graham twins and Federiko, but removing Hinson from this bunch would change the entire outlook and add a lot more pressure to the younger players.
Pitt has a handful of players that will hear their names called this weekend, but what about next year’s draft? Who are the top names there? I think there are a few that make sense right away and a couple more that will need to really step up next season to give themselves a chance. Dayon Hayes is in the same boat. He’s been pegged behind Deslin Alexandre, Haba Baldonado, and John Morgan, but flashed big-play potential with three sacks in Pitt’s regular season finale against Miami.
Kancey is already off the board, but as we go into rounds two and three tonight and the conclusion tomorrow, I feel like five more Panthers will get their names called. I feel fairly confident that Israel Abanikanda and Carter Warren will be the next two Pitt players off the board, but after that there are no sure things.
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