Pitt Football: Top 4 prospects for the 2021 NFL Draft

Center Jimmy Morrissey joined the Pitt football program as a walk-on in 2016 and redshirted his first year on campus, eventually taking the starting job as a redshirt freshman. He would go on to start every game his freshman and sophomore season until he was sidelined in a mid-November game against Wake Forest.

The Panthers would go on to lose their regular season finale against Miami before dropping the ACC Championship Game to eventual-national champion Clemson and Stanford in the Sun Bowl. Morrissey would go on to recover from his ankle/foot injury and start all 13 games in the 2019 season.

Morrissey enters the 2020 season as a three-year starter and returning first-team All-ACC center. He was a bright star on a struggling offensive line, failing to establish a consistent run game at any point in the season. Morrissey may not have the upside or athleticism of some of the top interior lineman in the class, but as a four year All-ACC center that did not allow a sack in all of 2019, he should expect to hear his name called next spring.

As a three-time member of the Academic All-ACC team, Morrissey is one of the smarter players on the field. What he lacks in strength and movement at the line, he makes up for in positioning and technique.

Morrissey should not expect to be a day one or two selection, but should be a mid-to-late round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.