Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett and Commanders wide receiver Jahan Dotson carried the first-round torch for Pitt and Penn State on Thursday night. But Friday was expected to bring even more Panthers, Nittany Lions and WPIAL players to the NFL — and it delivered.
Shady Side Academy’s Skyy Moore became one of the second round’s more enticing selections when the Kansas City Chiefs took him 54th overall. Moore, an explosive wide receiver and a fringe first-round prospect, links up with Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl LIV champions.
A fellow WPIAL product secured his spot in the league six spots before Moore went off the board. Gateway standout and Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker was drafted by the Chicago Bears with the 48th overall selection, becoming the fifth safety to hear his name called.
Brisker’s selection followed up Penn State teammate Arnold Ebiketie, who was selected 38th overall by the Atlanta Falcons. Ebiketie was the sixth player selected in the second round and the sixth defensive end picked in the entire draft.
All three players were named all-conference, and all had their own unique paths to draft night.
Moore was overlooked during the recruiting process coming out of Shady Side Academy. A two-star prospect according to Rivals, Moore did not have a single scholarship offer from a Power Five program. The majority of his interest came from Division I-AA schools. But he landed with Western Michigan, where he broke out this past season as a redshirt sophomore.
Moore finished the year with 96 catches for 1,293 yards — both of which ranked among the top 15 nationally — and 10 touchdowns. Most notably, Moore had 11 catches for 124 yards and a score against Pitt in Western Michigan’s upset of the Panthers last September.
“Impressive, impressive tape,” draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said on ESPN’s broadcast. “... He got yards after the catch. He’s really impressive. You see the stiff arm. You see the physicality. You see him make defenders miss after the catch. He attacks the football. He’s explosive.”
Brisker, meanwhile, was explosive on the other side of the ball.
A two-time captain at Gateway, Brisker arrived at Penn State in 2019 via Lackawanna Community College. He was a force on the Nittany Lions’ defense in 2020 and 2021, combining to tally 121 tackles. Last year, he had six tackles for loss and two interceptions. One of those interceptions was a game-winning play in the waning moments against Wisconsin in Penn State’s season opener.
Brisker earned second-team All-American recognition from the Associated Press and first-team All-Big Ten honors.
Ebiketie was also an all-Big Ten honoree. The defensive end was a dominant stop-gap off the edge for the Nittany Lions. A Temple transfer, Ebiketie spent one year at Penn State and led the team with 9 1/2 sacks and 18 tackles for loss. That TFL total ranked second in the Big Ten, ahead of Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson and behind only Wisconsin’s Leo Chenal.
On Friday night, he earned quite a bit of praise from Kiper.
“I love the kid. This guy can get after the quarterback as good as anybody in this draft,” Kiper said on ESPN’s broadcast. “He did it at Temple. He did it at Penn State. This is a kid who plays hard. People say he can’t play the run that well; I thought he was more than adequate against the run. He gives you everything he has. James Franklin loved this kid. He’s strong, powerful, athletic. And he has that knack that you cannot teach, you cannot coach about getting after the quarterback.”
Johnny McGonigal: jmcgonigal@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jmcgonigal9
First Published: April 30, 2022, 12:00 a.m.
Updated: April 30, 2022, 1:41 a.m.
