Pitt players eagerly await NFL Draft weekend

Here’s what we know about the NFL Draft, for sure:

We don’t know anything, for sure.

There was plenty of speculation — both good and bad — last month after Pitt’s Pro Day when the 10 Panthers who hired agents, plus several others, worked out for NFL scouts, coaches and executives.

Hopes were raised for Jaylen Twyman when he lifted the 225-pound bar off his muscular chest 40 times.

But there was some concern when Paris Ford ran a 4.9 40-yard dash.

What does it mean? No one knows, for sure.

Former Pitt and Woodland Hills fullback Lousaka Polite played in the NFL and knows a lot of things, for sure. He said it best: “They’re getting paid to play football. They’re not getting paid to run in tights.”

Will all 10 players, including kicker Alex Kessman, get drafted? Highly unlikely.

But if five get their names called, it will be one of larger groups of Pitt players drafted by the NFL.

The Pitt record was 12 players drafted in 1981, including 11 picks in the first five rounds. Led by first-rounders Hugh Green, Randy McMillen and Mark May, it was punctuated when the Pittsburgh Steelers took quarterback Rick Trocano in the 11th round. That draft had 12 rounds, whereas the current draft format is seven rounds.

There were six Pitt players picked in 1983, ’92 and 2004.

In the 1977 draft, held four months after Pitt won the national championship, six players were taken (only three before the eighth round).

Tony Dorsett went second overall to the Dallas Cowboys, but 182 names were called before the next Pitt player with a championship ring was chosen — punter Larry Swider (yes, a punter) to the Denver Broncos in the seventh round. The next year, five were drafted in the first six rounds.

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, his players’ biggest advocate, was asked about the remote possibility of as many as nine of his guys getting the call this weekend.

“That would be unbelievable,” he said. “It’s all about development in our program and developing players. It’s a point of respect for our program.”

The record while Narduzzi was coach is five in 2017, led by James Conner going to the Steelers in the third round. All five are either out of the league or with a different team than the one that drafted him.

See? You don’t know, for sure.

There is significant buzz around many in the current group that includes Patrick Jones II, Rashad Weaver, Damar Hamlin, Jimmy Morrissey, Jason Pinnock, Bryce Hargrove, D.J. Turner, Twyman, Kessman and Ford. Some will get drafted; all should, at least, get invitations to tryout camps.

The case of Twyman is probably the most interesting.

He opted out of the 2020 season for family reasons and hasn’t played a meaningful snap since Dec. 26, 2019. That was the Quick Lane Bowl against Eastern Michigan, when he had three tackles and one pass breakup. He had no TFLs, but in the other 12 games, he had 12½.

Will the NFL hold the opt-out against those players?

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert does not rule out drafting opt-outs, but he does view them differently.

“As I stated in the summer,” Colbert said this week, “if a player chooses to opt out, for whatever reason, that’s their decision, and we will respect it.

“However, if a player played in 2020 and those players are of equal value, one that didn’t play and one that played, we’ll take the one that played because we don’t know what the opt-outs will be like in their first season back in football. We believe it’s hard to sit this game out.”

Narduzzi respects and supports those who choose to opt-out, but he said training for the NFL is a unique exercise.

“We highly recommend guys not to opt out,” he said. “It is hard to play the game of football. It’s not like basketball or baseball. You can have batting practice or a pickup game. Football’s a hard game to play by yourself. It’s a team game. It’s something you can’t train for.”

Even Twyman admitted he lost out not playing between All-American defensive ends Jones and Weaver.

“Sacks would have fallen into my lap,” he said. “I wouldn’t have had to work as hard as I did in 2019.”

Ford, who played the first seven games before opting out of the final four, said, “That’s in the past now, and I’ll just let God handle what He handles.”

No matter how college turned out, the weekend will be special to those waiting for the phone to ring.

“It’s kind of like a surreal feeling,” said Hamlin, who added he has spoken to almost every NFL team. “Ever since I was little, I was watching the draft, waiting for it to be my turn. I worked my tail off for it. I earned it.”

Said Ford: “I’ve been working for this moment since I was 5 years old. This is all I know.”

Added Hamlin: “We can’t wait for it, but there’s still more work to be done.”

For sure.

Here is a list of other players with local ties who are expected to get long looks from the NFL:

• Robert Hainsey, offensive lineman, Notre Dame (Gateway, IMG Academy).

• Micah Parsons, linebacker, Penn State

• Jayson Oweh, defensive end, Penn State

• Lamont Wade, safety, Penn State (Clairton)

• Pat Freiermuth, tight end, Penn State

• Shaka Toney, linebacker, Penn State

• Michael Menet, center, Penn State

• Will Fries, guard, Penn State

• Darius Stills, defensive end, West Virginia

• Tony Fields, linebacker, West Virginia

• TJ Simmons, wide receiver West Virginia

• Mike Brown, offensive lineman, West Virginia

• Chase Behrndt, offensive lineman, West Virginia

• Kyle Poland, long snapper, West Virginia