Pitt gets another O-Lineman

Today monster lineman Arthur Doakes from Lebanon, PA announced that he plans on attending Pitt next fall. Doakes is 6'6, 350 lbs. His offer sheet wasn't too impressive as his offers consisted of Pitt, Syracuse, Rutgers, Buffalo, and Troy. He becomes the 15th commitment in a class that is quickly filling up.

People may be upset to see that we have another guy who doesn't have any of those "stars" next to his name. Just relax on that one. For the most part, the guys who don't have any stars yet simply haven't been evaluated yet. The guys who are expected to be the studs of the 2010 class have been evaluated as they have the most hype. Over the course of the season the rest of the seniors and the standouts in the class of 2011 will start to be evaluated and more of those stars will pop up.

While I am glad we have received another commitment, there is something that I feel needs to be looked at. I've said it before and I'll say it again right now. I do not understand and I do not like Wannstedt's recruitment of offensive linemen. It almost seems like we will offer different linemen without any type of plan in place for what we're trying to do on the line. A bit earlier in the Summer, I posted that it looked like we were trying to go after smaller, more mobile offensive linemen. Doakes is not anything like this. He is an old school, Big 10 style lineman who is just a massive body that is not easy to push around.

I won't complain about getting an offensive lineman recruit because outside of the quarterback spot, I feel that this is our biggest area of concern. We aren't as deep with talent at the offensive line position as I feel we should be, and just bringing in bodies at this moment is what we need because hopefully one of these guys will pan out.

Again, I'm kind of mixed on this because you can't have enough good linemen, but at the same time you want guys who will fit your system, not just a patchwork offensive line.

I don't want to make it sound too negative because getting a recruit is always a good thing. Welcome to Pitt Mr. Doakes, we all wish you the best of luck.