Calijah Kancey, Izzy Abanikanda open NFL eyes at Pitt's Pro Day

Perhaps the two most significant takeaways from Pitt’s Pro Day belong to defensive tackle Calijah Kancey and running back Izzy Abanikanda.

First, Kancey:

• It’s interesting to listen to what Kancey said to reporters after the NFL came into Pitt’s practice facility Wednesday and measured him.

“They thought I was 5-10. I came in 6-1, 283. I surprised a lot of people. The 6-1 is not fake,” said a proud Kancey, who was Pitt’s first unanimous All-American last season since Aaron Donald in 2014.

The Donald reference is instructive, too, because some people compare Kancey to Donald, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and Pitt product. Like Kancey, there were questions about Donald’s height (6-1) when he left Pitt, but that didn’t hinder him from becoming a first-round draft choice and one of the greatest defensive players in league history.

Calijah Kancey, with a 33 1/2-inch vertical pic.twitter.com/lwprWMsiZw

— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) March 29, 2023

“That’s a great comparison, something to be happy (about),” Kancey said.

Then, he paused and said, “But I’m Calijah Kancey.”

“From a guy who was overlooked, wasn’t big enough, wasn’t tall enough, wasn’t strong enough, now people are taking notice,” he said.

When he left Miami’s Northwestern High School for Pitt in 2019, he wasn’t even ranked among the best players in Florida, earning a mere three stars from Rivals.com and only six Power 5 scholarship offers.

Now, there’s talk about Kancey being picked in the first round of the NFL Draft next month, perhaps in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ wheelhouse at No. 17. If it doesn’t happen at that level, so be it, Kancey said.

“I wouldn’t be disappointed. It’s going to happen. It’s not going to happen. I don’t know. We have to see,” he said. “There are a lot of teams who like me. I just have to find someone who falls in love with me.”

Kancey did not lift or run the 40-yard dash Wednesday, but his 40 time at the NFL Combine (4.67) earlier this year was the best there for a defensive tackle since Donald recorded a 4.68 in 2014.

On Wednesday, he participated in the three-cone and 20-yard shuttle drills. He said he was told he registered times of 6.82 seconds (three cone) and 4.33 (shuttle). Both would have led all defensive tackles at the combine, but he chose to wait until he could perform those drills on Pitt turf.

Related:

• 2021 ACC champion John Petrishen returned for his 2nd Pro Day, chasing a dream

He said he was satisfied but admitted he could have done better.

“I messed up on my technique. It’s something I could have fixed, but I have to take it,” he said.

• Next among players who moved the needle for scouts from all 32 NFL teams and four from the CFL was Abanikanda. All he really had to do was take off his shirt to show ripped muscles in his back, but he had even more to offer.

He recorded a 41-inch vertical leap and two 40-yard dash times between 4.26 and 4.4 seconds, depending on your stopwatch of choice. No running back at the past three NFL Combines recorded a better jump.

Among the impressed onlookers was Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi.

“When I looked at his back. I said, ‘Whoa, look at that,’ ” Narduzzi said. “Maybe I hadn’t looked at him with his shirt off for a long time. He was a beast over there.

“The way he ran. That’s a big man running fast,” he said of the 217-pound back. “Most guys get skinnier for Pro Day so they can run faster. He put on more horsepower and went out there and ran very well. He’s a grown man right now.”

Pitt running back coach Andre Powell was not surprised he ran well — he’s been watching Abanikanda for three years — but he admired his growth in that time.

“He came a long way from Abraham Lincoln High School (in Brooklyn, N.Y.),” Powell said. “Not only did he make a huge jump from high school to here, but a huge jump from ’21 to ’22, in terms of his learning and preparation. Good for him.”

Abanikanda burst onto the Pitt scene as a freshman in the spring of 2020 when he ran 80 yards, untouched, into the end zone in a spring practice.

“I just knew how to run back then. I didn’t know how to pass protect. I had trouble catching,” he said. “Throughout the three years, I grew a lot. When you saw that kid running for 80 yards, that was just me just running.

“(Now), I can do anything any coach wants me to do. I’m a complete man, a complete back.”

Abanikanda, who won’t turn 21 until a month into the 2023 season, could have returned to Pitt, but he bet on himself — even after a hamstring injury curtailed his training for the draft.

Izzy Abanikanda, with a 41-inch vertical jump pic.twitter.com/Vxng9MfXuU

— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) March 29, 2023

“At first, there were a lot of ups and downs. Should I have left?” he said. “On and on through the process, it kept showing me it was meant to be. It shows me don’t quit, keep going.”

Although Abanikanda showed breakaway speed during the 2022 season, averaging 6 yards per carry with an 11-game total of 1,431 that led the ACC, he said some NFL teams questioned his breakaway speed.

“A lot of people thought I couldn’t really break away,” he said. “I, actually, was surprised when they talked about that. I showed out on my 40 and let them know.

“They said I was rolling.”