Training camp starts very soon for the 2013 Pitt Panthers
(August 6th to be exact) and the ACC era will finally be upon
us. Yup…just in time for the NCAA to
have enormous changes to throw everything upside down again with several
lawsuits! We’ll keep this on the informative
and fun side though and concentrate on what I believe are some very key issues
facing this season’s Panthers and some recruiting updates.
Just a quick primer for you and the first is the defensive
side of the ball. I know, I know…they
have 9 starters returning, including a good amount of playmakers and depth, but
there is one position that scares me and that is middle linebacker. It is not
that senior and great comeback story Dan Mason has left the team, but more that
the starter Shane Gordon is a question mark right now. The word is that he is healthy and ready to
go. He is an important part of this
defense and not only is solid in the middle, but a big hitter and game changer
as well. The problem is that he’s coming
off of a neck injury. He did not play in
the bowl game (though to be fair, he was probably tired of being in Birmingham)
and did not participate in spring ball either.
I have faith in his back up, but there is cause for
concern. Red-shirt freshman, Mike
Caprara is inexperienced and undersized.
That is not a good combination for middle linebacker. It is reported that he has great instincts
and I think he can play at this level and do well, but just not right now.
Gordon must remain healthy for this defense to reach its potential. If he can, I don’t believe the defense will be
bothered by the better athletes the ACC will bring week in and week out. Then again, I thought we would be getting
ready for year three of the high octane offense, so my opinion can be thought
of by many as…well…shit.
I have read a few previews of Pitt and it absolutely kills
me that they consider the team weaker from last year and the QB change being a
reason why. Ummm, let me speak for all
Pitt fans when I say…HUH? If you have
read this blog, you know that I was a Tino guy (well, as much as someone can be
a Tino guy), but if you think they are taking a step back with either red-shirt
freshman Chad Voytik or fifth-year senior Tom Savage, you just are not correct. I keep thinking of the part in Billy Madison every time I see a preview
mention the loss of Sunseri as a weakness coming into the year. I anticipate them to be better at QB this
year.
Offensive line is the last thing I want to talk about. I do anticipate them to be better than
previous teams. Pitt has long been
plagued by poor offensive lines, which I think was one of the problems during
the Tino years. They are losing three
starters from last year’s line and that could be a problem, but there are a few
reasons why I don’t believe it will be a bad thing:
1.
Tackle is where you put your best
offensive linemen usually. Pitt’s two
starting tackles last season are BOTH moving inside to guard. That is a major plus as Cory King & Matt
Rotheram move to left & right guard respectively.
2.
Size, size, size, size, size! Look, I’m 5’3 (on a good day…okay, a really
good day), so maybe it is just my height that makes me look at Pitt’s best 8
offensive linemen and be excited, but the shortest lineman is 6’5 and the
lightest is around 300 pounds, give or take a 16 ounce steak (the line is also
thought to be athletic big men too). As
JR would say, that is a mass of humanity on the offensive line.
3.
Arguably two of the most talented
linemen in a good while will (more than likely) start or get playing time in
red-shirt freshman, Adam Bisnowaty & true freshman Dorian Johnson.
4.
Going into training camp, Juantez
Hollins was tabbed to be Pitt’s starting left tackle. This season, he is slated (as of this writing)
to be the SECOND TACKLE OFF THE BENCH.
I know everyone is worried about running back and that is
with good reason. I won’t try and dive
into that one, as training camp is needed badly to sort out the depth chart
there. If the offensive line can come
together, all other aspects will be improved greatly. Regardless, I look forward to the reports from
training camp. The best happen at
Pittsburgh.rivals.com from Chris Peak.
With that out of the way, Pitt has picked up a few more
recruits since the last post. Two of
them I am very excited about. Sometimes
there is a recruit that I can’t understand why he doesn’t have more offers and
for some reason or another, he just doesn’t.
I can’t (for the life of me) get why North Allegheny’s Elijah Zeise did
not have more offers. Luckily for Pitt,
he did not and picked Pitt. Sometimes a
player can just play. The 6’2, 185 pound
Zeise seems to be able to do just that.
While the Quad-A playoffs were in full swing last season, it seemed with
every twitter update on Friday nights, I would see another Zeise deep ball
moment during NA’s games. I like when a
kid just performs. It reminds me of when
I was watching Penn Hills and Gateway play a few years ago with all the big-time
players and one player kept making plays.
He didn’t get a lot of big offers and wound up at Pitt….his name: Aaron
Donald. I am not comparing the two…I’m
just saying if a kid keeps making plays…it usually means he can perform at the next
level. Time will tell, but there is not
a lot to NOT like about Zeise.
Finally, Pitt recently picked up the go-ahead from Upper St.
Clair’s Rori Blair. Seriously, google
that name and tell me you don’t like this kid and what it could become. If you
don’t like his story, you also probably hate puppies and America. In short, he
was slated to be a top recruit after his junior year, but in April of 2012,
suffered a stroke, which almost cost him his life. He had a long road back, but has been finally
cleared and granted a final year of eligibility in the WPIAL. He held offers from WVU and Kent State, but
has always been partial to Pitt. He still
has a ways to go, but you have to like this story and if Blair is fully
recovered, this could be a steal for the Panthers.
We’ll take a short break so I can go down to SEC country to
pull off Godfather duties for a high school friend of mine, but I’ll keep up to
date and hopefully have small updates throughout training camp leading up to
the Florida State game on 9/2.
