Pitt - Draft Predictions

[TheSpecialSauce]

Calijah Kancey - 1st Round
Israel Abanikanda - 3rd Round
Brandon Hill - 4th Round
Carter Warren - 4th Round
SirVocea Dennis - 5th Round
Habakkuk Baldonado - 6th Round
Erick Hallett - 7th Round
Marcus Minor - 7th Round

 

[BreakingPitt]

Whoever gets Abanikanda , it's a steal.
He is underrated and is going to be a star.

 

[HailtoPitt]

If he can get picked by a contender with a good QB, then he's going to wreck havoc.

 

[President Stache]

Calijah Kancey - 1st Round
Israel Abanikanda - 3rd Round
Brandon Hill - 4th Round
Carter Warren - 4th Round
SirVocea Dennis - 5th Round
Habakkuk Baldonado - 6th Round
Erick Hallett - 7th Round
Marcus Minor - 7th Round

Brandon Hill should be taken top 3 rounds, but man has he had no momentum going for him. He needs a good publicist. He has excellent tape, great combine numbers, and from what we saw was a real leader. I would take him without hesitation. I saw some mock drafts not having him taken at all.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

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Not sure about Haba. I have been higher than most on Warren, but 101 might be a bit high. I think Izzy goes before Warren.

 

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

I have to admit I’m just not sure about Izzy even to this day. Mainly in his running style, which is rather upright… he seems to have that Lev Bell style that certainly worked for Bell (until he wigged out) but may not be endearing to coaches. And sketchy receiving and blocking. But he definitely can take it and go when he gets just a small hole. So I hope for the best for him.

 

[HopeandChangeforAntoons]

When I read evaluations of Izzy, it seems they always mention the receiving as a knock on him. He may not be a natural, but it wasn’t like the guy didn’t show anything. I think of that catch and run against UL last year. I realize he wasn’t running wheel routes out of the backfield all the time, but that is more a function of the play calling. I would guess that most feature backs in CFB are underused as receivers. I seem to recall similar gripes about Conner and he has been a decent pass catching back in the NFL.

 

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

When I read evaluations of Izzy, it seems they always mention the receiving as a knock on him. He may not be a natural, but it wasn’t like the guy didn’t show anything. I think of that catch and run against UL last year. I realize he wasn’t running wheel routes out of the backfield all the time, but that is more a function of the play calling. I would guess that most feature backs in CFB are underused as receivers. I seem to recall similar gripes about Conner and he has been a decent pass catching back in the NFL.

It’s likely mostly an unfair rap…our shaky QBs the past season as well as just the nature of the past and present passing offenses themselves (more focused on Wr and Te) could have contributed. He didn’t get tons of chances as a receiver so one or two drops here or there will stand out on the infinite video that the NFL scouts pour over.

But as you note, it is definitely a knock on him (fair or not), so it will be something that could bump him down in the draft somewhat since so many NFL offenses seem to feature their backs in their passing offenses so much, including in sophisticated patterns besides mere dump offs, more than Pitt does at least.

But I hope they focus most and recognize he has game breaking ability beyond the average back. Get him the ball in some space and great things happen

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

I have to admit I’m just not sure about Izzy even to this day. Mainly in his running style, which is rather upright… he seems to have that Lev Bell style that certainly worked for Bell (until he wigged out) but may not be endearing to coaches. And sketchy receiving and blocking. But he definitely can take it and go when he gets just a small hole. So I hope for the best for him.

Yep. He's a home run hitter if he finds a seam, but the hips/shiftiness are a concern. I see him as a situational back more than an every down back. Still think he has value, but I feel it will need to be properly utilized.

 

[The Ole Six-Fiver]

Yep. He's a home run hitter if he finds a seam, but the hips/shiftiness are a concern. I see him as a situational back more than an every down back. Still think he has value, but I feel it will need to be properly utilized.

Yeah he is definitely no Shady, but few are.
I sound overly critical above but it’s merely a reflection of the times we’re in. Izzy would have been a slam dunk first or high second round pick in a previous decade or so. His skillet would have more highly valued then, but backs today are considered commodities and used more in hybrid mode. And interchanged frequently.

It’s why the Steelers surprised so many who observe these trends when they took Harris. However, we tend to forget that Harris started life as a WR at Alabama so it isn’t as questionable as it originally seemed. I think the Steelers were (finally) starting to feature him more in downfield receiving by the end of last season, which IMO will (finally) add value to that pick.

But even with that Harris was still a fairly low first round pick. And Izzy certainly doesn’t have nearly the same pedigree (though I think he is far more of a breakaway threat than Harris has shown). It will be interesting to see if all the factors mentioned causes Izzy to end up picked lower than many of us as Pitt fans hope.

 

[pittguy81]

If Izzy can improved his blitz pickup, he's a complete RB IMO. He has shown good hands out of the backfield even though it's not a big sample size. His Soph year with Kenny he had 24 catches....which dropped to 12 last year but his YPC increased from 8.5 to 12.5.

I think he'll be a steal in the late 3rd - 5th round.

 

[Drew1208]

Pitt players continue to shine in the NFL. At least one of those picks and maybe a few of them will be looked back at as a steal.

 

[thebadby2]

I have to admit I’m just not sure about Izzy even to this day. Mainly in his running style, which is rather upright… he seems to have that Lev Bell style that certainly worked for Bell (until he wigged out) but may not be endearing to coaches. And sketchy receiving and blocking. But he definitely can take it and go when he gets just a small hole. So I hope for the best for him.

I agree with this to some extent. He does not run through contact well and is fairly easy to get on the ground. He has not shown much in the way of receiving ability and his pass pro was never great. Despite his physique, he is not a very physical runner.

He's fast and elusive, but there's a lot more to the job at the NFL level than that.

I do not see him as a 3 down kind of player in the NFL, which limits his value significantly.

 

[thebadby2]

Yeah he is definitely no Shady, but few are.
I sound overly critical above but it’s merely a reflection of the times we’re in. Izzy would have been a slam dunk first or high second round pick in a previous decade or so. His skillet would have more highly valued then, but backs today are considered commodities and used more in hybrid mode. And interchanged frequently.

It’s why the Steelers surprised so many who observe these trends when they took Harris. However, we tend to forget that Harris started life as a WR at Alabama so it isn’t as questionable as it originally seemed. I think the Steelers were (finally) starting to feature him more in downfield receiving by the end of last season, which IMO will (finally) add value to that pick.

But even with that Harris was still a fairly low first round pick. And Izzy certainly doesn’t have nearly the same pedigree (though I think he is far more of a breakaway threat than Harris has shown). It will be interesting to see if all the factors mentioned causes Izzy to end up picked lower than many of us as Pitt fans hope.

Harris never played WR in his life. He came to Bama as a 5-star RB and the #1 overall recruit in the country, got RB reps in every one of their games as a true frosh.