Pittsburgh football 2017: Projected Panthers depth chart

Third-year head coach Pat Narduzzi will look to continue building the Pittsburgh Panthers into an ACC contender in 2017.

While the Pittsburgh Panthers didn’t improve record-wise in the second year of the Pat Narduzzi era, there are plenty of promising signs for the program’s future.

Narduzzi guided the Panthers to their second straight 8-5 campaign, matching their best record since 2010. Considering the difficulty of Pittsburgh’s 2016 schedule and coaching turmoil in recent times, the Panthers should be thrilled with the success and stability of Narduzzi’s tenure so far.

Behind a dynamic offense, the Panthers were the only team in the nation to take down national champion Clemson in 2016 and added an early season victory over a Penn State squad that won the Big Ten. Pittsburgh ranked 10th in the nation with 40.9 points per game, leading to a number of memorable games such as a 76-61 win over Syracuse to close out the regular season.

Unfortunately, one-score losses to North Carolina and Virginia Tech kept Pittsburgh from winning the ACC Coastal, and the Panthers’ season ended on a low note with a 31-24 loss to Northwestern in the Pinstripe Bowl. Narduzzi and coordinator Josh Conklin will need to quickly build the defense after the Panthers surrendered 35.2 points per game in 2016.

While the Panthers have enough returning experience to remain competitive in the division, they replace some key pieces next season. Pittsburgh will have new starters at both quarterback and running back, while top defender Ejuan Price is off to the NFL.

Early season matchups at Penn State and against Oklahoma State pose a major challenge, but the Panthers will be in the ACC Coastal mix if those new players at important skill positions can acclimate quickly enough alongside any sort of improvement from the defense. Here’s a look at Pittsburgh’s projected depth chart in 2017, courtesy of Ourlads.com.