And this notion that defensive players can be developed but offensive players have to be high recruits is unbelievably inaccurate.
I never said offensive players can't be developed. I said the hit rate is higher for defensive players. I don't think you'll find many coaches who would disagree with that notion. You might ask "why?" It's probably due to offensive football is akin to a combination of skill moreso then defense is. And, no I'm not saying defensive guys aren't skilled. What I'm saying is if you run 4.4 and can't catch a ball, you still might have a chance to play some defense. If you aren't skilled enough to play RB but you run fast and have some size, you might be able to play some LB. You're undersized but you can get off the ball, you probably have a better chance to play DL then OL. You aren't too bright to handle an offensive playbook, well maybe you can handle a defensive one.
Most coaches realize there is more flexibility on the defensive side of the ball for a variety of reasons.
That includes Pitt (Kenny Pickett, Jimmy Morrissey, Brian O'Neill, Desmond Reid, etc.), but the reason there aren't a ton of recent Pitt examples is exactly what my point is in the first place: Narduzzi doesn't produce enough offensive talent.
Narduzzi doesn't produce or recruit enough offensive talent? I think most would agree that it's a recruiting thing moreso then a developmental thing.
Baker Mayfield, Trey Lance, Carson Wentz, Daniel Jones, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Zach Wilson, Michael Penix, Ashton Jeanty, Antonio Brown, Tyreke Hill, and a bazillion other guys say "wassup?"
Trey Lance, Carson Wentz? These are 1AA guys. How was Trey "developed?" He unlike the majority of NDSU QB's played right away and played well. Carson didn't play until later in his career. If you follow my posts on here, I've written a bunch on NDSU. If you want to see development - study what they do on the OL.
Penix was a 4 star coming out of HS. He was the 14th rated QB coming out of the class with offers from Oregon, FSU, Tennessee, etc.
Tyreeke Hill was a 4 star with offers from Alabama, etc..
Outside of Mahomes, the rest of the guys were not playing P5 football. I'm not sure it's the apples to apples comparison you think it is.