ESPN.com’s Brian Bennett mentions some potential replacements in the event of Jamaal Sheard missing playing time during the regular season:
Pitt has depth and can play Brandon Lindsey or Shayne Hale at defensive end, but the drop-off in experience would be major.
That would be a considerable dropoff as both players have only one year of experience under their belts and a total of 21 tackles between them. Mix in the fact that they were both previously linebackers and they’d still essentially be learning DE. Still, if Sheard does miss time, Pitt is fortunate to have at least another able pass rusher with senior Greg Romeus on the other side.