Inside The Panthers

Pitt Among Best at Producing NFL Defensive Talent

The Pitt Panthers have had the fourth-most defensive players drafted over the past three years.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt Among Best at Producing NFL Defensive Talent
Pitt Among Best at Producing NFL Defensive Talent /
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PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have been fielding  defenses stocked with high-end talent and it has shown up on the field as they have climbed the college football hierarchy by winning a combined 20 games over the past two seasons.  

But it has also shown up in the NFL Draft and on Sundays as the Panthers have produced the fourth-most defensive draft picks over the last three years. The back-to-back national champion Georgia Bulldogs lead the way with 19, followed by LSU with 13 selections, Alabama with 11 and then comes Pitt, tied for fourth with in-state rival Penn State. 

The Panthers have had 14 total players drafted over the past three years. Those 14 picks over a three-year span are also the most in the ACC. 

Pitt's six draft picks this year tied Clemson for the most in the ACC and ranked fifth nationally. This also marks the second time in three years that the Panthers have had six players drafted and the fourth time in program history they've done so.

According to Jim Hammett of Panther Lair, the Panthers' six picks tie a program high for selections under the current seven-round model, which was introduced in 1994. And Pitt's 14 draft selections from 2021 to 2023 are the most over a three-year span since 1990-92, when 17 players from the program were drafted.

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Published
Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

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