PITTSBURGH — Pitt wide receiver Derek Kinder, a first-team all-Big East player last season, will miss the season with a torn knee ligament.

Kinder was injured making a cut after catching a pass during a non-contact drill that occurred on the first day of full squad workouts Saturday. An MRI exam reveled a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will require at least six months of rehabilitation.

After making the catch, Kinder was in visible pain but walked off the practice field on his own. He is expected to have surgery this week.

"This is a very unfortunate thing," said coach Dave Wannstedt, who disclosed the test results on Sunday. "He has worked so hard to put himself in position for a great year. It was a noncontact injury — he never got hit, he just planted on the grass."

Kinder has not redshirted before, so he can sit out this season and return to play as a senior in 2008.

Kinder, from Albion, N.Y., caught 57 passes for 847 yards and six touchdowns last season, when he was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff award as college football's top receiver. He was chosen as Pitt's most improved offensive player.

Kinder was considered a key to a Pitt offense that will begin the season with one of two inexperienced quarterbacks as its starter, either Bill Stull or Kevan Smith, following the graduation of three-year starter Tyler Palko.

"Obviously, it's a setback," wide receivers coach Aubrey Hill said. "He's a great kid, but we've just got to get him back and ready to play next year."

Wide receiver is one of Pitt's deepest positions, with sophomore split end Oderick Turner (44 catches, eight touchdowns, 15.0 yards per catch average) likely to step in as the top receiver. Marcel Pestano (28 catches), T.J. Porter and Cedric McGee also played last season, and Pitt recruited two freshman receivers in Aundre Wright and Maurice Williams.