Yet another recruit verbals to Pitt. Defensive Tackle Jared Martin from Davie, Florida gave his verbal to Pitt today. Martin appears to be something of a project and/or had his stock rising during the season based on his play. I say that because of the rankings given by Rivals.com and Scout.com. They list him as a 3- and 2-star prospect, resepectively. He chose Pitt over Arizona St., Minnesota and Colorado (like that was going to happen now). Martin visited Pitt back on opening weekend against ND. He had taken a visit to Minnesota this past weekend. Apparently cold weather wasn’t too much of a concern for him.

Pitt locked him up this week with a visit to his home according to the e-mail from Pittsburgh Sports Report:

Pitt coaches Dave Wannstedt and Charlie Partridge visited with Martin at his home this week, and that apparently sealed the deal for the talented lineman. Pitt had been recruiting Martin since the spring and first offered him a scholarship in July.

Martin has a solid frame and upper body strength that appears to be Division 1-ready. He bench presses 400 pounds and squats over 500. At 6’1″ he is a bit undersized on the defensive line, but he has explosiveness off the ball and has been described as a bull-rush defensive tackle. Colleges have also been impressed with his lateral movement and leverage. He fills a position of need for the Panthers and is expected to challenge for early playing time, as Pitt graduates both starting interior lineman from this past season. Martin is the fourth defensive tackle to commit to Pitt this year, joining Jason Pinkston, John Malecki and Shane Corson.

I’m continually amazed at the work being done by Coach Wannstedt with regards to recruiting.