When Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt was hired in 2004, he said his No. 1 priority was to rebuild the Panthers' defensive line and proudly declared that every championship team he has been associated with had a dominating defensive line.

Two seasons later, it seems as if Wannstedt's vision is close to being realized. Pitt has 17 scholarship defensive linemen and only two, ends Chris McKillop and Joe Clermond, are seniors.

"Our defensive line depth is showing up every day," Wannstedt said. "We have a lot of young talent and we have some veteran guys -- it is exciting to see this because I've always said, you can't have a great defense without a great defensive line. In these past couple of years, we had good linebackers and secondary guys but our defensive line was young and we were rebuilding and we struggled to stop the run. I feel good about our run defense because of this line."

Defensive line coach Greg Gattuso said that depth has created intense competition at every position, which, in turn, has fueled the improvement in the unit. He believes the Panthers can have a legitimate eight-man rotation between the four spots along the line.

Experience is another factor in the improvement of the line, which Gattuso said is more athletic and stronger than a year ago.

McKillop and Clermond will start at defensive end and redshirt freshman Greg Romeus will be the top reserve. The other spot in the rotation will be redshirt freshman Tyler Tkach; freshman Jabaal Sheard, who had a good scrimmage and has had several good practices in a row; or freshman Tony Tucker.

"Tyler is a smart player; he is in the right place to make plays and he gets to where he is supposed to be and he is hard worker," Gattuso said. "I've been very happy with his progress. He is going to be a player who can help us. Jabaal and Tony are more athletic, but they are young and still learning. But I'd feel very comfortable putting either of them out there in a game situation, so we're going to be fine at that spot."

Redshirt sophomore Doug Fulmer could challenge for playing time if he can stay free of injury. He still is not at full strength because he is recovering from surgery after his knee was injured in the spring, and he missed the final eight games last season because of a broken ankle.

At tackle, junior Gus Mustakas (6-3, 280) has locked up one of the starting spots and junior Rashaad Duncan (6-2, 295) is the front-runner for the other spot. That leaves sophomore John Malecki (6-3, 275), redshirt sophomore Mick Williams (6-1, 290) and sophomore Tommie Duhart (6-2, 275) to battle for playing time.

"I feel really good about this group," Gattuso said. "I really do. They are hungry, they've worked hard -- they are competing with each other, they are pushing each other. We've come a long way in a few years and now we're just starting to scratch the surface. It is a great feeling to know that we have a lot of talented players and options and depth because we haven't had this luxury before.

"We're not overly big up front, but I'm not a big believer in this idea that you need 330-pound tackles in order to be successful stopping the run. All of our guys move well, they fit into their spots and they are good football players who are learning and improving every day."

With so many players in the rotation, it would seem impossible to keep everyone happy. But the players are embracing the competition and believe that it will be to their advantage to get a breather during games.

"Man, this is a hard position, it takes a lot of energy and you have to battle every down," Duhart said. "So you need a break, you need to help each other out, and that will really show up in the fourth quarter of these games when we are running fresh legs out there every series. That's going to be huge for us.

"From what I understand, we got worn down some in the fourth quarters last year because we didn't have any depth. Now we want to be the ones who wear the other guys down."

NOTES -- Wannstedt said the Panthers came out of their Saturday scrimmage healthy. Offensive lineman Chris Jacobson (knee) and defensive lineman Greg Romeus (hamstring) are day to day. ... Wannstedt doesn't anticipate many changes to the depth chart but did say certain special teams positions were coming into focus. Lucas Stone is likely to be the holder and Aaron Berry is pulling ahead of TJ Porter, Aaron Smith and Aundre Wright at punt returner. ... Four freshmen who will clearly not redshirt are tailback LeSean McCoy, safety Dom DeCicco, Sheard and Wright. ... One other freshman who might show up on special teams is tackle/guard John Fieger, who has been working some as a long snapper.