Michael Pittman Jr. has the former NFL player bloodline going for him, but why else should we believe this young man will succeed in the NFL? Is he just another “good, but not great” receiver from USC? Does it matter that it took him forever to break out for an entire season? Let’s find out.
From the Beginning
For some of you (the old ones), you’re likely already familiar with Pittman’s dad. For those that aren’t, Pittman played 11 NFL seasons at running back, posting five consecutive seasons with at least 1,100 yards from scrimmage from 2000 to 2004. So needless to say, when it came to be known that Michael Pittman Jr. started rising through the recruiting ranks, the hype began to build immediately.
By the time Pittman Jr. entered college he had nearly the entire PAC-12 seeking his receiving abilities. And even though everyone thought he would go to Oregon he instead chose the crowded receiver room at USC. At the time that meant competing with the likes of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Deontay Burnett, Darreus Rogers, and Steven Mitchell. Not all those guys panned out to become pros, but it was a top three or four group in college football at the time.
Pittman Jr. was immediately behind the eight ball trying to climb his way up a stacked depth chart to find early relevance.
