Two Pitt Players Among College Football's 25 Best Since 2000

Veteran national insider Bruce Feldman has led a charge at The Athletic to examine the first 25 years of college football since the turn of the century. Exhausting his resources to generate Top 25 rankings across as many seasons, a best-of-the-best list based on conversations with dozens of his best sources, Feldman's list included two Pitt Panthers.

There was a Pittsburgh product for each side of the ball, starting with former Panthers receiver and 17-year Arizona Cardinals veteran Larry Fitzgerald at No. 11. Coincidentally, that's the number of Pro Bowl nods the No. 3 overall pick of the 2004 NFL Draft earned.

Just outside the Top 10 in Feldman's report this morning, Fitzgerald's name stood out in rich bold with two stat lines that followed.

First, though, Fitzgerald's franchise records are worth noting, leading the Arizona Cardinals all-time in career receptions (1,378), in career receiving yards (17,492), and career receiving touchdowns (120), among others. Before that tremendous run, he logged 161 catches for 2,677 yards and 34 touchdowns over just two seasons with the Panthers (2003-2004).

"The Panthers were hardly known for prolific passing attacks in the early 2000s. Fitzgerald’s QB at Pitt, Rod Rutherford, never threw a pass in the NFL," Feldman's analysis read. "In the year before and the year after Fitzgerald’s two seasons, Pitt wideouts caught a combined 32 touchdown passes — two fewer than the 6-3, 220-pounder from Minnesota had in his record-setting two seasons in college."

"In 2003, Fitzgerald often faced double and triple coverage but became the first sophomore to win the Walter Camp Award for national player of the year. He finished second in the Heisman vote to Oklahoma quarterback Jason White."