PITTSBURGH — Dorin Dickerson was a player without a position when Pitt recruited him in 2005. Three years later, he still was.

A multidimensional player at West Allegheny High, Dickerson was labeled by recruiting services with the ambiguous tag of athlete. The problem is there isn't any such position in football.

Dickerson piled up touchdowns — 36 in his senior season alone — against overmatched high school players no matter where he played and initially was tried by Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt at wide receiver. A season later, he was a linebacker. By last season, he was a tight end.

Three seasons, three positions and Dickerson had yet to make the impact expected of a former Pennsylvania high school player of the year, one who was rated in 2005 as the nation's fourth-best high school receiver by Scout.com.

Now, Dickerson appears to be trying to make up for three all-but-lost seasons in which he had only 14 receptions, 15 tackles and not much impact. After only two games, Dickerson has four touchdown catches — three against Buffalo on Saturday — and eight other receptions for Pitt (2-0).

By contrast, starter Nate Byham, who went into the season considered as one of major college football's top NFL prospects at tight end, doesn't have a catch.

Where have you been, Dorin Dickerson?

"We did a couple things with him that you might see a wide receiver do," Wannstedt said. "We did a couple things with him that a fullback or running back might do out of the backfield. And then we did some things with him that are strictly tight end things. ... If you're defending, you better know where he's at all the time."

Turns out that shuffling positions so often may have given Dickerson, now a senior, a better understanding of the offense than players who remain at one position.

"I just felt like the whole day they couldn't catch me," Dickerson said after making eight catches for 71 yards against Buffalo in Pitt's 54-27 victory. "The pace of the game was slow for me, so I just went out there and made plays."

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Dickerson's emergence so late in his career is one reason Pitt's offense — a major question mark when the season started — has been much better than expected.