Inside The Panthers

Pitt Football Offer Report: 2026 RB Christopher Talley

The Pitt Panthers extended an offer to another exciting running back. Inside the Panthers has the details.

Kevin Sinclair

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The Pitt Panthers have added a few names to the 2026 board recently, including an emerging prospect out of Tennessee. 

At the beginning of the year, Christopher Talley carried just one scholarship offer from a school you may haven’t heard of. More recently, though, his stock began to rise. 

On January 31, Arkansas became Talley’s first Division-I, Power Four, and SEC offer all at once. His hometown Memphis Tigers offered next, followed by Cincinnati that very same day (Feb. 5). 

Austin Peay and Jacksonville State joined the race before the 2026-class running back announced an offer from Pitt on Monday, March 17. 

Out of a top-shelf program in Memphis (Tn.) Whitehaven, Talley appears to be the real deal on paper, clocking a 10.86 in the 100 meters, and a 21.97 in the 200 meters after rushing for 11 yards per carry as a junior in the fall. 

Talley recorded 1,317 rushing yards for 17 touchdowns over just nine games, per MaxPreps.

He’s a smaller all-purpose back, similar to the Panthers backfield star in Desmond Reid and his younger brother Tyler Reid, a 2027 prospect who committed to Pitt recently. 

As you can see in the above clip, Talley’s track speed converts to breakaway plays on Friday nights. Despite his smaller stature, the rising senior is difficult to take down, especially in space, and when he finds a crease, he can hit a home run. 

Operating mostly as a single back, Talley’s junior season highlights may be one of the most entertaining reels you’ve seen this cycle. 

Aside from Talley, Whitehaven also boasts Power Four recruit Cory House, a 2026 three-star defensive end at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds with offers from Michigan State, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, and others. 

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Kevin Sinclair
KEVIN SINCLAIR

Kevin Sinclair writes coverage of the Pitt Panthers along with the Baltimore Ravens, the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Tennessee Titans for On SI. Previously, he was a recruiting reporter and managing editor at Irish Illustrated, the privately-owned Notre Dame site within the 247Sports Network, for over seven-and-a-half years. Kevin studied multimedia journalism and has been a sports writer for nearly a decade.

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