Hey everyone, I thought I'd just pass along some news here before I head out to Charlotte tomorrow.
The John Bachman experiment at center is not going well. Originally he was on the first team and was having difficulty snapping to Billy Stull. Just as the Cat Basket predicted, Robb Houser was bumped up to the first team and there were far fewer problems.
One of the players doing well in the few days we have been practicing is Aundre Wright. He is absolutely killing people with his speed and making a big impact on the field. While he is going to be held back by the depth we have at Wr, he is really proving that he deserves a shot to see the field. I still believe Kinder/Turner will be the starting 1,2 but with Porter, Wright, and Baldwin all waiting right behind them, any flaws in their game must be quickly addressed or they could be out of a starting spot very quickly. Hopefully we will play the best players and don't let the player's year in school impact how much they play.
Pat Bostick is doing his best to make me lose my bet with Brian Ising. He is in very good shape, he has improved his footwork, he has added distance to his long bomb, and has been more impressive than expected in camp. He has worked on correcting his throwing motion, so as of right now you will see a modified version of how he passed last year. He hasn't lost the hitch completely, but it isn't as significant as it was last season.
Lastly, I spoke with one of the coaches who is ready to call Elijah Fields the best player on the team. Thats right, even better than McKillop, better than Shady, better than Romeus. The belief is that with Elijah's super-human ability we can use him (get ready to smile yinzers) as a Troy Polamalu type. He is a superb blitzer for a defensive back, he has great closing speed, and he has arguably the best hands of anyone in our secondary. He is the type of player that will really impact how teams prepare for us. This is the first time I can remember that we have had a superstar on the DLine (Romeus), Linebacker (McKillop), and Secondary (Fields).
It might only be due to the Pitt basketball season ending, but I'm getting very excited for the football season.
We should have our recording equipment by next week, so when I return from Charlotte, look for the regular podcast updates.
Lastly, I want to give mention to our Pitt Women's basketball team. They will tip off here in about 30 minutes. Agnus has done a great job in her short time here. Stevie P, when you get into the office on monday and read this I have 2 jobs for you to do. 1st, give Jamie Dixon a long extension with a super huge buy out. Secondly, do the same thing with Agnus.
~ DPJ ~
Saturday, March 29, 2008
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9 comments:
Solid news with the improvement of Elijah Fields. I can already see the inevitable Ron Cook column about Fields' redemption by week four next season. Let's hope he can keep it together in the classroom as well.
I take it you think Mo Williams will be a candidate for a redshirt due to a little crowding at the WR position? I really liked Mo's athleticism in some limited time in late season games last season, but if there is in fact some solid depth at WR, it may be better to redshirt him.
I don't think Mo Williams will redshirt. I see him passing guys on the depth chart to move into a starter's role as the season progresses. He had some great plays in the few times he was thrown the ball (a 37 yard long TD for one) 5 recptions for 100yds, 20.0 average, and even taking that long gainer out of his stats he still led the team in receiving average (16 yds per catch).
I don't think you sit that potential down as a sophomore, especially when you have a staedy guy in Kinder coming back who gives you a possesion type receiver.
I'd move Oderick Turner down before I keep Williams out of the mix. Turner's pretty hot & cold as a receiver IMO.
First play for Greg Cross yesterday he took a snap from center and was gone to the end zone.
Watch this kid, if he can learn the playbook, he has a cannon for an arm, he will be the starter.
If you look at the WR core, Kinder, Porter, and Williams are probably our top 3 at the moment just based upon 1. what we have seen and 2. their experience in the system. Turner really hurt us many times last year by dropping easy passes and not finishing his routes. Aundre Wright and Baldwin, based on ability alone, should see the field quite a bit this year, but since they are both freshmen, the staff will probably hold them back like they usually do with the other freshmen.
Just think, our top 5 wr's are Kinder, Porter, Williams, Wright, and Baldwin.
Plus we also have Turner and Ced McGee.
If I were the coach my starting two would be Kinder and Porter just based on what I have seen from them, but I would be very willing to go 4 or 5 wides and use the top 5 that I mentioned above in the package.
Man, a 4 wideout set would potentially give some secondary coaches and defensive coordinators fits. I am curious to see what kind of wrinkles they throw in this year with the likes of DD, LSH, and whether they will throw the ball to Nate Byham at all.
In an unrelated note, after seeing how bad injuries killed Pitt football and hoops last season, plus with the Pens getting banged up this year, let's hope the law of averages swings back in our favor this Fall.
All the WR's are nice but the problem is going to be getting the football to them!
The defense looks great, the o-line looks very bad, hopefully it is a combination of injuries and how great our d-line is.
My major worry is the o-line, hopefully everyone overcomes the injury bug because the jury is out on this bunch until fall camp.
Any possibilities of any early commitments contemporaneously with the Spring Game next week? It would be nice to get the ball rolling, especially with somebody like Brock DeCicco if it has a domino effect from some of the local gems and outward to the rest of the state.
I'm actually pretty excited to go to the Florida State Spring Game tomorrow evening at 7 pm. It's the first night Spring Game in Doak Campbell history and there are supposed to be a number of highly regarded kids coming in, many of whom will have taken in the UF game earlier in the day.
We will be at the scrimmage tomorrow and will be doing a podcast immediately following, so we'll have the latest news and updates.
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