My hero and role model as a blogger.
Anyway, we’re about a week and a half into preseason practices, so let’s talk some Pitt football. Going down the list position by position, it’s clear that this team is not shy on storylines this year, so let’s get to it.
Defense
The boys on this side of the ball are primed to have a big year. Returning most of the starters (ignoring one glaring exception) from a unit that was very good last year is always a good thing. Lots of ‘Top 10 in the nation’ and ‘dominant’ and ‘scary’ being tossed around to describe it. I obviously hope so, but let’s just see how it all shakes out this season before we make such proclamations.
DE: The position that I (and every other Panther fan out there) am least worried about. Greg Romeus is on the Bednarik watch list, and by many accounts, he isn’t even as good as his counterpart, Jabaal Sheard. Throwing standout reserves Tony Tucker, Brandon Lindsay and Shayne Hale into the mix, this group of DEs is certainly the deepest in the Big East and even stacks up nicely against the best in the nation.
Bad mofos
DT: Let’s begin with the best. For the second straight year, the beat writers have singled out Mick Williams as ‘unstoppable’ and a ‘wrecking ball’ in preseason camp. He no longer has the benefit of playing next to Rashaad Duncan, so he’s going to have to step it up as the man in the middle this year. It appears that
OLB: It seems that linebacker depth has been a fairly constant concern these last few years, and it’s really no different this year. Greg Williams, an athletically gifted if inexperienced player, returns to strong side linebacker this year. He should be a year older and wiser, which is a good thing because he made some ridiculous plays last year, but also made some boneheaded mistakes. Max Gruder seems to be tabbed by those in the know as the favorite to start on the weak side. I haven’t ever seen him play, so all I can go by is others’ observations that he’s a disciplined, hard working player, which is fine by me. Manny Williams and Shane Murray (a former starter, plagued by a knee injury) seem to be the only names that are popping up as far as the backups go.
MLB: Here’s the big if, and it’s arguably the worst defensive position you can possibly have an if. We all know what we lost in Scott McKillop, who’s probably going to find a place with the Niners. It now falls on his best friend Adam Gunn, who broke his neck after a collision with McKillop last year, to take the reigns on a position with strong recent heritage (Hayes, Blades, McKillop, all in the NFL). Actually before you ponder that leap of faith we're making as Pitt fans, ponder the fact that Gunn BROKE HIS F'ING NECK last year and is returning to the field to play one of the hardest hitting positions this year. That’s a man. At least we know the position won’t be lacking toughness. Dan Mason is making a lot of noise, but knowing Wanny’s propensity to stick with experienced seniors, I doubt he’ll be supplanting Gunn.
CB: Aaron Berry was one of last year’s punching bags following the Rutgers debacle (speaking of which, I’m headed to the Seahawks preseason game this weekend and get to see Mike Teel, whom the Seattle fans have to be excited about…wait, he didn’t throw for 400 yards and 5 touchdowns against every team he played last year? Really? Because he looked great against us). I keep reading about his renewed focus and his willingness to accept his role as a leader this year. Maybe. All I’m going to say is that, in my experience, leadership, as a quality in an individual, reveals itself early on and doesn’t need to be coaxed out by a coach. As long as he plays well, I’ll gladly eat my words, but let’s just say I’m a doubter on this one, and I don’t think we’ve heard the last of
S: Dom DeCicco has a strangle hold on free safety, as well as the coolest name on the field by far. Elijah Fields is another of the disappointing, but extremely gifted, players on this team. Unfortunately for Fields, he’s competing against a young man who not only seems to want it more, but has his poop together. Andrew “Tags” Taglianetti plays like he’s the son of a former hockey player, and like he has a serious chip on his shoulder after not being recruited by anyone but Pitt. His effort on special teams (475 blocked kicks last year, seriously) made him impossible to sit, and it’s really paying off for him this year. Plus playing Taglianetti and DeCicco together gives us the most Italian sounding defensive backfield in D1, which I'm all for. Fields remains a capable (and potentially outstanding) backup at both positions, but I doubt that the coaches are going to trust him as a starter.
Offense
The adage that defense wins championships seems to have gone by the wayside in college football the last few years. Oh, would that it were the olden days, Wannstedt would be considered a genius. New offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti doesn’t promise to install a new system as he’s another pro-style guy, but does bring in an apparently new philosophy that it’s important to put the ball in the hands of your best players. Why this is new or worth commenting on is another in a long line of baffling things about previous OC Matt Cavanaugh (now QB coach for the Jets, look out Mark Sanchez). Does that mean Cavanaugh didn't believe in that it was important to get the ball to your best players? Did Wannstedt know that? I don't even want to think about this anymore.
Let’s hope the O isn’t as stagnant as last year, because they certainly have a lot of weapons. Let's take a look.
OL: Another of the perpetual question marks for this team. Wanny’s been recruiting this area pretty hard the last few years, but it just hasn’t shown yet on the field. There have certainly been good players here and there (for example Jeff Otah was first rounder and steady contributor to the NFL Panthers last year), but as a unit they have largely been a disappointment. OL depth is another area where this team is concerned, as "plagued by injuries" doesn't really begin to describe the chaos that ensues when a starter goes down. Pinkston will start at LT and by all accounts is poised to do very well, as he’s been battling with, and occasionally coming out on top of, the aforementioned Bednarik finalist, Romeus. Lucas Nix will apparently take over at RT, he’s young, but was highly regarded coming out of school and will likely grow into an excellent lineman. Joe Thomas and another highly regarded recruit, Chris Jacobsen, are fighting for LG, and either are capable, which means we’ll have decent depth at guard. John Malecki, a former DL recruit is highly praised at RG. Center seems to be going to Houser, but if he gets hurt again, who steps in? CJ Davis did well last year, but there isn’t a player with his flexibility on this year’s squad. Again, it all comes down to how well they perform as a unit.
TE: Another position with little concern. Nate Byham is widely considered the among the class of the Big East in terms of both blocking and pass catching. Dorin Dickerson can and will create loads of matchup problems for opposing linebackers and safeties all year long. This is another deep position (current minor injuries notwithstanding) with Devlin, Cruz, and Brock DeCicco ready to take up the reigns when the starters graduate.
WR: Jonathan Baldwin! This is the reason to get excited this year (well offensively anyway). He exploded onto the scene in last years USF game with a long TD, but was quickly exposed as a one trick pony as he was apparently unable to run routes that couldn’t be described as “run as fast as you can straight up the field”. Now, reports out of camp are of long nights studying film, extra work running routes and catching passes from Stull and groping girls on the late night upper campus shuttle. I, for one, couldn’t be more excited. The group rounds out with some combination of the physical McGee, the speedy Aundre Wright, and the newcomer Mike Shannahan. Look for Cam Saddler returning kicks as well.
One touchdown, two drawn interference calls, all kinds of unstoppable. Not a bad freshman debut.
RB: The second of the two huge voids left behind from last year’s squad. First and foremost, none of us should expect the team to be able to replace McCoy’s production, it’s just not going to happen. That being said, there’s a lot of positive energy around the new group. Back in the spring, there just weren’t enough positive words in the English lexicon for writers to describe how exciting Dion Lewis was. Now, though Lewis seems to have the job pretty well in hand, it appears he isn’t even as good as fellow Jersey native Ray Graham, who unfortunately seems to be having some trouble holding onto the football lately. These two true freshman seem to put the team’s rushing in good hands for years to come. Oh yeah, don’t forget about the bruising Shariff Harris or last year’s training camp hero, Chris Burns.
QB: Now we come to the big kahuna. The most important player on any given football team. A position that has not been filled admirably since a certain loose lipped southpaw from
"...considering that Stull has struggled during camp and appeared to be losing ground in recent days to Sunseri, who has begun to get first-team reps in every practice. Bostick, however, again worked only with the second team, which seems to indicate that he is headed for a role as backup or, perhaps, even a redshirt."
~Post Gazette,
Perhaps it is premature then that Bill Stull was named by Dave Wann-stache as the starting QB for Pitt. Some may speculate that this move is to avoid any controversy or mixed messages sent to the rest of the team. I say that's crap. Pitt went 9-4 last season despite Stull's horrible play. The fifth-year senior is incapable of reading defenses, making quick decisions or making all the necessary throws.
I'm not saying that the other two guys would be better than Stull...because the thought of Pat Bostick starting makes me wish Jason Voorhees was my next door neighbor. However, there should not be a clear declaration that Bill is the starter. Let's review the options...
Pitt's poor excuse for a QB depth chart (w/'08 stats) reads:
- Bill Stull - 12 games played, 188-330 for 2,356 yds with 9 TDs and 10 Ints.
- Pat Bostik - 6 games played, 22-41 for 270 yds with 1 TD and 4 Ints.
- Tino Sunseri - (Redshirt Freshman) Lead Central Catholic to 16-0 record and a Class AAAA Championship. 110-200 for 1,960 yds with 23 TDs and 4 Ints.
- Additional info: Santino Sunseri's parents, Sal and Roxann Sunseri are Pitt products and former standout athletes for the Panthers. Sal was an All-America linebacker at Pitt, lettering from 1979-81. Roxann was an All-East gymnast at Pitt and a high school state champion.
"Stull was 9-14 for 57 yards and no touchdowns, but 1 interception by red-shirt freshman cornerback, Jarred Holley that he returned for a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage. Stull said that the defense put in a new scheme that he had not seen, and that led to the pick."
~ Patriot News,
Are we to assume that Bill Stull can only read defenses that he has seen before? Even the 64% completion stat is skewed considering that all of them were short, safe passes. Does this sound like a QB of a team trying to compete for a Big East Championship? Even more, if the quarterback position continues to suffer, how can Pitt's offense improve from last year without LeSean McCoy??
Needless to say, questions abound in John's, my own, and many a Panther fan’s mind about the quarterback position. By nearly every account, Sunseri has been the better QB throughout practice and in the scrimmage (Ron Cook even wrote that 'the best balls were coming out his right hand'...come on, I couldn't resist that quote), but again, Wanny is nothing if not loyal to his seniors. All I can say is, if Stull remains the starter throughout the year look for "Stull said that the defense put in a new scheme that he had not seen" in the write up after every game and look for new OC Cignetti in a hospital for the criminally insane.
No comments:
Post a Comment