EXCLUSIVE: Pitt Coach Pat Narduzzi Talks Raiders' M.J. Devonshire's Playmaking

The Las Vegas Raiders gained a heck of a cornerback in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft with former Pitt defensive back M.J. Devonshire.

One of the main reasons Devonshire, the 2023 Jim Thorpe Award winner, was so successful in college, was because of the great defensive mind of his coach, Pat Narduzzi.

Narduzzi, who obviously knows Devonshire as well as anyone, can tell you everything you already know about the new Raider cornerback's defensive abilities, but he also knows what Devonshire is capable of as a special teams weapon.

The Pitt coach discussed Devonshire's playmaking ability when he recently joined our Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. on the "Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast."

"M.J. is a guys from the Pittsburgh area, played at Aliquippa High School, and ... he's long, got long arms, he's tall, he's athletic, he's rangy and he can run," Narduzzi said. "And on top of all that, with all the physical attributes that he has, I think the biggest thing that M.J. Devonshire has is that he's a playmaker. He is a playmaker, he wants the ball, he wants to make big plays, and people talk about his ability to play corner, [but] his ability to also be a punt returner and a kick returner, and again -- obviously, punt returner is a lot harder than kick returner -- he wants the ball in his hands. If you pulled some of his Aliquippa tape, he was a great punt returner.

"He left ... went to Kentucky, we end up getting him on the bounce-back, and when he got here -- Kentucky didn't let him return punts -- we're like, 'Hey, you can return punts here. We'll give you an opportunity.' So, he got his opportunity back here, and he made do with it. So, he can help you on special teams in any facet of the game and he's a long, athletic corner that can move."

Devonshire played in all but one game for the Panthers over their last three seasons. He transferred to Pitt after playing two seasons at Kentucky.

You can watch Narduzzi's entire interview with Carpenter here.

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