Pat Signal: Daniel Moraga commits to Pitt

Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi and the Panthers coaching staff hosted five recruits over the weekend in an effort to round out their 2020 class. The visitors included Derek Bermudez, Davonte Brown, Lovie Jenkins, Buddy Mack and Daniel Moraga, and on Monday, Moraga, a JUCO tight end out of Ventura College in Ventura, California, committed to Pitt.

"Always be loyal to those who are real with you," Moraga said in a message posted on Twitter. "I’m ready to put on for the city of Pittsburgh! I’m proud to say that I’ll be committing to the University of Pittsburgh."

The 6’4”, 240-pound tight end holds a three-star rating from 247Sports, and he spent the 2017 season redshirting at Fresno State after a standout career at Pacifica High School in Oxnard, California. During his senior season at Pacifica, Moraga amassed 1,087 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns on 60 receptions.

At Ventura in 2019, Moraga saw limited action for most of the season but came through with a big performance in the Joe Kapp Real Estate Beach Bowl. Although Ventura lost to Cerritos 46-39, Moraga caught eight passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. That brought his season totals up to 205 yards and two scores on 17 receptions over seven games.

Moraga is the second recruit Pitt has plucked from Ventura College in recent years, as it also recruited one-time blue-chip quarterback Ricky Town from the junior college. Last season, Pitt landed Ventura tight end Travis Koontz as well, but he flipped to Texas Tech and cited Pitt tight ends coach Tim Salem’s emphasis on run-blocking as a primary reason.

Pitt has had better luck with tight ends this time around, though, as Moraga is the second tight end to commit to the program in the past 12 hours. The first was Florida graduate transfer Lucas Krull, who announced his decision on Monday afternoon. Both recruits are likely to see the field early and often in their Pitt careers, as the team will be looking to replace current tight ends Will Gragg and Nakia Griffin-Stewart.