This is where Pat Narduzzi and his staff can take a bow.
Few college football programs are constantly in the conversation -- perennially, really -- among the ones to stamp their brands on the NFL Draft.
Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and, in recent memory, Georgia have dominated the circuit of developing their respective crops of high-end talent, and the pipelines by this point are more than well known by even the most casual of fans.
For the second time in three seasons, though, Pitt did not just have another strong showing in the NFL Draft; the profilings of the players who have taken the step into the professional level can, once again, prove as play makers as a whole at the next level.
Pitt had six players picked in the 2023 NFL Draft, which was tied with Clemson for first among ACC programs and was tied for fifth overall in college football, along with Clemson, Florida, LSU, Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State. Only TCU (eight), Michigan (nine), Alabama (10) and Georgia (10) had more players come off of the board last week.
Calijah Kancey's selection at No. 19 to the Buccaneers gave Pitt its second consecutive first-round pick, to go along with Kenny Pickett's drafting by the Steelers last year. It is the first time the program has produced first rounders in back-to-back drafts since 2007 and 2008, in which Darrelle Revis went to the Jets in 2007 and Jeff Otah to the Panthers in 2008.
Joining Kancey in the 2023 class were five selections on Day 3: Carter Warren (to the Jets in the fourth round), Israel Abanikanda (Jets, fifth round), SirVocea Dennis (Buccaneers, fifth round), Erick Hallett II (Jaguars, sixth round), and Brandon Hill (Texans, seventh round).
Pitt and Narduzzi have now produced an ACC-best 14 draft selections over the last three seasons, which is more than the 11 produced by Pitt over Narduzzi's fist five NFL Drafts spent as Pitt's coach.
Pitt, by the way, saw six players come off the board in the 2021 draft, which tied for the fifth most along with Kentucky, BYU, and Penn State.
"Coach Narduzzi -- coach Patrick Narduzzi -- is a great person and also a great coach," Kancey told the ACC Network on Monday. "He's a guy that wants the best out of you in everything he does, and as a player, to play for him, it's an honor, especially defensive guys because he's a defensive coach mostly.
"He teaches you how to be a man off the field and he also just puts you in the best position on the field, as well. Playing for him is just fun because as a defensive lineman he just wants to get after the quarterback. He wants to get TFLs, he wants to get sacks, he wants us to get turnovers, and that's where the fun begins."
"Coach Narduzzi is a great person and also a great coach. ... To play for him is an honor." β@Ckancey8 @Pitt_FB's 14 picks over the past three drafts is the most of any ACC program π΅ π‘ pic.twitter.com/WUgwHimG8S
β ACC Network (@accnetwork) May 2, 2023
Kancey is going into Todd Bowles' 3-4 defense, one which led the Buccaneers to a victory over Kansas City in Super Bowl LV in 2021.
The same defense which Dennis is set to join, and will play alongside veterans Devin White and Lavonte David.
Players which Dennis told Tampa Bay reporters that he has watched film of in the molding of his game:
New #Bucs ILB SirVocea Dennis mentioned that he had a signed Derrick Brooks jersey growing up and watched film of Lavonte David and Devin White. pic.twitter.com/bx2LdfZYau
β PewterReport π΄ββ οΈ (@PewterReport) April 29, 2023
"We're going to learn the playbook together. I can't wait," Kancey said. "... Man, I was turnt (when Dennis was drafted). I was actually watching -- I was actually on my way back from Tampa, and I was watching it on my phone. I just kept refreshing my screen, and every time someone got drafted, I was like, 'All right, another Pitt guy, another Pitt guy.' Then SirVocea's name popped up. ... I FaceTimed him. He was too excited to even say anything, and he called me back and then we finally talked."
While Kancey might have profiled best in a base 4-3 defense, the Buccaneers announced him as a defensive end, which is most likely his best positional fit within that scheme. He will not have to clog the inside as a run stopper -- the Buccaneers have veteran Vita Vea for that -- and will be able to utilize his speed and polished technique to create havoc in the outer gaps in the passing game, where he was the most dominant at Pitt.
Uniquely enough, Kancey and Dennis are not the only two former Pitt teammates set to reprise the role in the NFL with this draft class. Warren helped block for a part of Abanikanda's standout 2022 season, and the two will serve as key depth pieces for the new-look Jets offense led by Aaron Rodgers.
Had Warren not been limited to just four games in 2022, he likely would have been drafted in Day 2 instead of Day 3. As fate would have it, the Paterson, N.J. native Warren and the Brooklyn native Abanikanda each get to go back home and play football.
"It was crazy. The Jersey number came and called, I saw the Jets were up next, I was crying," Warren told reporters. "My family was so happy, they didn't know what was going on. I was ecstatic, I was just highly blessed, I'll tell you that."
Leave it to one set of teammates to be drafted to the same team, but having two is a rarity of its own. Two sets of Pitt teammates had not gone to to the same team in a single draft since 1983, when tackle Jimbo Covert and guard Rob Fada were picked by the Bears and defensive back Tim Lewis, running back Bryan Thomas, and guard Ron Sams each were picked by the Packers. At that time, though, the draft ran for 12 rounds instead of seven.
Pitt teammates getting drafted to the same team happened in more recent history than one might imagine. In the 2021 draft, the Vikings ran to the Pitt defensive line well twice, selecting Patrick Jones II in the third round and then going back in for Jaylen Twyman in the sixth round in that draft.
"It definitely feels amazing, because we were just roommates at the (NFL) Combine just talking about it," Abanikanda told New York reporters. "Like, 'I wonder what team we're about to go to.' Playing on the same team as my O-line, that's amazing, that's an unreal experience, as well. That's something you just wish for."
The Jets are in "win-now" mode after trading for the future Hall of Famer Rodgers, and Warren and Abanikanda will have a part in that going forward. Neither might be a Day 1 starter, as Warren has veteran Duane Brown on the left side and 2020 first-rounder Mekhi Becton on the right side ahead of him, but tackles chosen in the fourth round -- especially those, like Warren, who are coming off of an injury -- typically don't see the field right away.
As for Abanikanda, he can thrive within the Jets' zone scheme. He earned some pre-draft comparisons to his new teammate, Breece Hall, who the Jets selected in the second round last year and was on a blazing pace with rookie of the year potential before tearing his ACL. Abanikanda is expected to compete with Michael Carter as the Jets' backup running back.
"It's actually a dream come true, a dream come true," Abanikanda said. "I always wanted to stay home and to stay close to family, and just for that happening, it's an unreal experience. ... They're getting a running back that can break tackles. I can run in any type of scheme. Outside zone, inside zone, under the center. I can also line up at slot, catch the ball, and break away. Home run runner with great ball security, as well, definitely."
Hallett and Hill continue the recent pipeline of Pitt defensive backs sent to the NFL. Including the two in this draft, since 2018, Narduzzi has sent eight DBs to the pros via the draft: Jordan Whitehead (2018), Avonte Maddox (2018), Dane Jackson (2020), Jason Pinnock (2021), Damar Hamlin (2021), and Damarri Mathis (2022).
While Jacksonville already has depth secured in its defensive backfield, Hallett can certainly translate his special teams ability onto the NFL gridiron. Hill ran the fastest 40-yard dash among safeties at the Combine and will also likely have to break in as a special teamer, but if the recent lineage of the success which the Pitt defensive backs have had at developing as NFL players says anything, one cannot count out Hallett or Hill at becoming respective mainstays within the league, just as their recent predecessors have.