Getty Image / Stacy Revere
It looks like the Pittsburgh Panthers have another unable athlete entering the NFL to man the interior of somebody’s defensive line.
During the 2022 season, a defensive tackle was the star of their defense.
Today, that defensive tackle absolutely made a statement at the NFL combine.
Calijah Kancey was a standout for the Panthers this year and now he is standing out ahead of the NFL Draft.
Today, Kancey ran the 40-yard dash in 4.67 seconds. That number is the fastest a defensive tackle has run the 40 since 2003.
Pitt DT Calijah Kancey officially ran a 4.67
That's the fastest time at the Combine for a DT since 2003 🤯pic.twitter.com/m9xr575XyV
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) March 2, 2023
Kancey appears poised to follow in the footsteps of another great Pitt defensive tackle.
This past season, he was Pitt’s first unanimous All-American since Aaron Donald back in 2013. Donald can also be found pretty high up the list of fastest defensive tackles since 2003. He ran a 4.68 second 40 at the combine.
Kancey wasn’t quite as dominant as Donald was in college, but he was still a force for the Panthers.
Over the last two seasons, Kancey racked up 14.5 sacks and an impressive 27.5 tackles for loss was part of a solid Pitt defense.
Kancey is a part of an absolutely loaded class of defensive tackles that will likely see one selected in the draft’s first 5 picks and quite a few taken in the first round.
Before today, it wasn’t guaranteed that he would be one of those 1st round picks, but a performance like this at the combine could catapult him up draft boards over the next month. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a defensive player’s draft stock massively changed by a combine performance.
Being the fastest defensive tackle in the last 20 years certainly won’t hurt his chances of working his way into the first round of the draft.