Inside The Panthers

Pitt Safety Records Solid Numbers at Pro Day

A Pitt Panthers safety put together solid numbers in front of NFL scouts during the university's Pro Day.
Kevin Sinclair|
Jul 23, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Pitt tight end Donovan McMillon answers questions from the media during the ACC Kickoff at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
Jul 23, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Pitt tight end Donovan McMillon answers questions from the media during the ACC Kickoff at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

In this story:

Pittsburgh Panthers

The majority of discussions around Pitt Panthers related to the NFL Draft next month have revolved around tight end Gavin Batholomew and receiver Konata Mumpfield.

On Wednesday, safety Donovan McMillon made an argument that he should be included in that conversation through his testing during Pitt's Pro Day.

In front of hordes of NFL scouts, McMillon clocked an unofficial sub-4.5 in the 40-yard dash, as reported by Nathan Breisinger of Pittsburgh Sports Now via an X post (shown below).

Earlier in the day, the Pitt Panthers taking part in the Pro Day competed in additional testing.

When it came to the bench press, McMillon impressed those putting the Panthers under a microscope.

Per the 93.7 The Fan account on X, the former four-star safety prospect out of Peter Township High School in-state - home of currrent Pitt 2026 recruits in tight end Lucas Shanafelt and linebacker Reston Lehman - recorded more than 20 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press.

Additionally, per another X post from Nathan Breisinger at Pittsburgh Sports Now, McMillon leaped 35 inches in the vertical jump.

Ranked inside the Top 150 overall nationally per 247Sports in the 2021 class, McMillon raked in a staggering 50 scholarship offers.

That list included Arizona State, Boston College, Duke, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and others.

An impressive component of his recruitment were the additional scholarship offers he earned from elite academic institutions, including Harvard, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Pennsylvania, Stanford, and Vanderbilt.

After choosing a path to the SEC, McMillon saw the field in 25 games for the Florida Gators as an underclassman from 2021 through 2022, notching 30 total tackles as an underclassman. Prior to reaching his upperclassman years, he returned home to Pennsylvania where he became a two-year starter with the Panthers.

McMillon made an immediate impact, topping 100 combined tackles in 2023, and finishing his two seasons in Pittsburgh with 220 total tackles, two tackles for loss, an interception, nine pass breakups, and two forced fumbles.

It'll be interesting to see if McMillon could earn his way into a draft pick through his Pro Day performance.

We won't find out until late April.

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt

Published
Kevin Sinclair
KEVIN SINCLAIR

Kevin Sinclair writes coverage of the Pitt Panthers along with the Baltimore Ravens, the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Tennessee Titans for On SI. Previously, he was a recruiting reporter and managing editor at Irish Illustrated, the privately-owned Notre Dame site within the 247Sports Network, for over seven-and-a-half years. Kevin studied multimedia journalism and has been a sports writer for nearly a decade.

Home/Football