PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – While the season results haven’t been consistent since 2019, Pitt consistently has had players drafted. Wednesday Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi had his latest group of players showing their skills in front of NFL scouts.
In the last six years, 19 players who participated in the Pitt Pro Day on the South Side were drafted. That is the second most in the ACC.
“We don’t’ have all the stars all those other guys do, but we develop our guys,” Narduzzi said. “We get the right people character-wise and they are tough. When they go to the NFL, they are reliable.”
Narduzzi said he had representatives from the Buffalo Bills come over to him to say they’ve never missed on a kid from Pitt and right now they love safety Donovan McMillon.
The Peters Township HS star was one of the more impressive players on Wednesday, starting with benching 225 pounds 21 times. McMillon is a versatile player who has played safety but says he’s willing to do whatever to achieve his dream of playing in the NFL.
“I hit all of my goals, I ran a 4.4, what I wanted,” McMillon said. “All the skill drills I hit really good times. I showed smooth transitions in my ball drills. I think I had a great day.”
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Eight NFL special teams coordinators were in attendance Wednesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, mainly to see kicker Ben Sauls. The All-American made six of his seven field goal attempts from 50-plus yards in leading the Panthers with 107 points in 2024. The group switched up his planned routine and Sauls missed his first kick in the indoor facility, an extra-point distance attempt pushed left.
“What I’ve tried to personify in my career is that I’m a guy that can bounce-back quick,” Sauls said. “I don’t like to miss, by any means. But to come out and miss the first kick and then hit 11 in a row, that exemplifies me. Misses happen, that’s a part of what I do. That’s a part of my job. The second half of that is what you do after it. Hearing the ball off my foot, seeing it fly, the kind of trajectory and power my leg has, I think I did all of that (Wednesday).”
Included in that was a 58-yard field goal that passed through about halfway up the uprights.
“This is what we do is try to develop our players,” Narduzzi said. “You want to win football games, but eventually this is the goal. Each one of the kids that come to our program, this is what they want to do.”
Every NFL team was represented even with Pro Days at Ohio State and LSU, among others. Steelers had five coaches and Assistant GM Andy Weidl attend.
Narduzzi credited his strength and conditioning coaches, led by Michael Stacchiotti, for preparing his players and the work the players put in not just recently but since they first stepped foot in the building.
“Impressed with our guys, they did a great job training in the offseason since our season ended,” Narduzzi said. “Some guys made some money today.”
Quote of the day
“Being nervous won’t be able to feed my family,” said Pitt safety PJ O’Brien of the emotions around the workout. “Nervous wasn’t an option today.”