Heading into 2026, Pitt will be looking for new playmakers at wide receiver.
With the majority of last year’s performers graduating, including leading receiver Poppi Williams and Deuce Spann, plus Kenny Johnson transferring to Texas Tech, it remains to be seen who develops into a regular target for quarterback Mason Heintschel.
Coordinator Kade Bell is betting that Malik Knight, whom he formerly coached at Western Carolina, can develop into such an asset.
Knight, a redshirt senior this season, joins the Panthers after four seasons with the Catamounts. He was the only wideout Pitt brought in from the transfer portal.
“Pitt felt like home,” Knight said. “Coach Pat Narduzzi, he kind of sold Pitt as a family, relationships and things like that. That really sold me on the decision to come here. It was an easy decision.
“Their pitch to me really was like the offense — it’s kind of the same offense and the same base. I didn’t want to go to an offense where we don’t throw the ball as much. So that was really like the main thing.”
Knight came into his own last year, catching 47 passes for 774 yards and seven touchdowns. In 2024, he recorded 23 catches for 392 yards and one touchdown.
Scoring play was setup by a 38-yard reception to Knight earlier in the drive to put WCU in the red zone. #CatamountCountrypic.twitter.com/4p6fQOsE3L
— Western Carolina Football (@CatamountsFB) October 18, 2025
Williams led Pitt in 2025 with 51 catches for 701 yards and seven scores, with Johnson hauling in 48 passes for 695 yards and five touchdowns.
Now, Knight is hoping to translate those numbers at the Power Four level in a receivers room that is set to feature Blue Hicks, CJ Lee, Tony Kinsler and Bryce Yates plus true freshmen Demetrice McCray, Rodney Dunbar and Dylan Wester.
All of the aforementioned players will be looking to secure roles in 2026, with Pitt losing eight of its top 11 pass catchers (including tight ends and tailbacks) from a season ago.
Lee, a familiar face for Knight who is also part of the Western Carolina-to-Pitt pipeline, had some advice upon reuniting with his former teammate.
“CJ told me, because I talked to him about this, ‘Football is football,’” Knight said. “The only thing that’s different is the tempo, the fastness and the physicality. That’s the only thing that’s different. Just go out there, play fast and play free and you’ll be good.’”
Lee has also proven helpful as Knight’s gone about learning a new playbook, having also played in Bell’s system at Western Carolina before adjusting to how the scheme has evolved with Pitt.
“It’s been great,” Knight said. “He’s showed me how the playbook’s evolved. He knew how the offense was (at Western Carolina) and how it is now, so he’s just shown me that inside piece to lean on and helped me decipher it.”
A 6-foot-1, 180-pounder, Knight has already started bonding with Heintschel.
Last year at Western Carolina, Knight averaged 16.5 yards per reception, which would have ranked second among Pitt’s regular wideouts, behind only Hicks (17.6) in 2025.
Between now and Pitt’s season opener Sept. 5 against Miami (Ohio), Knight will need to master Pitt’s playbook, navigate spring ball, get through the summer and compete during fall camp.
“I consider myself as a deep threat, a down-the-field threat,” Knight said. “I feel like that’s part of my game and the strongest part of my game.”