Some Rumblings

Well, I thought I'd share with you some info about Pitt that you probably won't read else where (for a while at least).

First off, on the recruiting front don't expect any type of flurry of activity for at least a couple of weeks. Right now we are in very good shape with Jonathan Baldwin which will help us out at the TE position to replace Strong.

Clemson is making a strong push for Averin Collier. Plans were for him to make an annoucement soon, but expect him to hold back to see if any major shake ups happen. If I were to bet, I'd still say that Averin is going to follow his brother to Pitt.

Pitt just offered Andrew Taglianetti. He doesn't have many "big" offers and really isn't rated high on any of the scouting services. He is considered to be a special teams demon though. He is the type of player that could make an impact for 4 years on special teams alone if he came to Pitt. Based upon the offer and the lack of others, there is a good chance he will take it and stay close to home.

The rumor mill is generating speculation that Dorin will be moving to tight end with a possible redshirt so that he can learn the position and not go through another wasteful year of learning on the go. I'd say right now that the chances of this happening are about 25%. It really depends on the development of our younger linebackers, how impressed the coaches are with the in coming linebacker recruits (Manny Williams and soon to be Steve Gardiner). Also the coaches are very happy with the running backs and want to make sure that whomever is quarterback next year has the best set of receiver options around him. So you can say it makes sense to put Dorin at TE to allow Nate to be used as a blocking TE when needed. It could also give Baldwin time to develop. If the younger/incoming linebackers struggle, don't expect to see Dorin moved.

Pitt is still looking for QB recruit for this class. Zach Stoudt and Tino Sunseri seem to be the most likely at this point. Sunseri has almost completely backed out of his Louisville commitment. Pitt wasn't involved early with Sunseri due to the Pryor situation, already having 4 qb's on the roster (Dexter Davidson included), and a false thought that he would be a Pitt lock if offered. One of the most likely situations to see Tino at Pitt is if John Fox and crew are fired from the Carolina Panthers. That would free up his father Sal Sunseri who is the DLine coach there. If for some reason Sal would come back to Pittsburgh (for employment or just to live) then I would expect Tino to be a Panther. One other prospect to keep your eye on is Josh Vick. He wasn't recruited too much at first, but interest started to pick up after our QB problems arose this season. If he gets an offer he will take it. If you remember the Luke Getsy recruiting situation from a few years back then this should remind you of the same thing.

Terrelle Pryor is still being heavily recruited by Pitt. Some say Pitt was really never eliminated while others say Pitt was never in it. He was quoted as saying he wants to play from day 1 and wants to play both sports at a big university. His future is at Qb and not in the NBA, and if he wants a team he could start at immediately then Pitt would be it. At WVU thoughts are Pat White will return next year which would leave Pryor on the bench, but they could use him in basketball. Texas and Ohio State are the other big 2 involved but they already have their quarterbacks of the future. While my bias says Pitt is the best fit, expect sweater-vest to shell out the money and land Pryor for OSU.

Next years camp will feature the current 3 quarterbacks plus which ever freshman we bring in a competition for the starting job. I really don't see the coaches picking anyone but Stull unless we get Pryor. In that case expect Bostick to redshirt and come back for the 2009 or 2010 season.

Kennard Cox will be starting at corner against WVU, but look for Pitt to pull him in favor of Jovanni and faster db's to try and offset the speed of WVU. As has been said here before, the coaches and the rest of us aren't too worried about getting beat through the air off of Pat White's arm.

Thats all for now.