Pitt Panther Prowl

PITT FOOTBALL SPRING CAMP: POSITION CHANGES & O LINE

Dave Wannstedt is doing his annual ‘Position Dance’ prior to the Spring season and has just now announced some interesting, and hopefully beneficial, moves to bolster some of the weaker parts of PITT’s team. Some we saw coming, as Dorin Dickerson has been moved to H-Back from his OLB position of 2007, and we discussed this move in an earlier article. It’s a good decision and one that should pay off. Some we didn’t expect such as John Malecki shifting across the LOS to the O line, and some are just the staff trying to fit athletes in where they can provide depth on the two-deep, such as Greg Williams (rsFR) over to the linebacking corps and Sherod Murdock (rsFR) to Safety.  We think in addition to getting Greg Williams into a position that suits him, DW wants to split up the four Williams’ boys on the team (1/20^th of our players are named Williams, we get confused on a regular basis. Look for more recruitment of Joneses and Smiths in the future just to make things more balanced).

Regarding moving Murdock to Safety - forgive us for being skeptical, but we feel that the possibility of having ‘the next great thing’ in Elijah Fields play any time soon is fading. This is pure speculation, but something isn’t setting quite right with that whole situation. We hope we are wrong on this, as the reports are that Fields is doing all he can to regain eligibility, but we’ll believe it when we see him in an actual game.

In addition to DD moving to TE we have Tyler Tkach (rsSO) being shifted there also.  He was a well thought of 3* TE/DE in HS so this also makes sense, and helps our lack of depth at that position. Keep an eye on him though, he is a strong kid who is getting bigger each year and could slide down the line into the OL in the future if needed.  By the way - one notable non-move was Kevan Smith staying at QB. So much for the staff giving up on him at that position and we agree.

The other position changes have to do with the Offensive Linemen and follows Wannstedt’s stated theory of recruiting big, quick D Linemen and moving them over to the OL after a couple of years on the team. He did this with great success at the University of Miami when he coached there and is now using that model at PITT.  We saw it turn out well with Jason Pinkston in 2007 who was a 4* DT in HS, and who has done exceptional in his time on offense. We expect him to be a mainstay at Left Tackle this season if all went well with his shoulder injury and its rehabilitation.

This season DW and his new OL Coach, Tony Wise have raided the DL again in moving John Malecki (JR), a 4* OT/DT when recruited, but who was very good as a right guard in HS and who now will be competing for time as a guard for PITT. His reputation is one of a kid who will mix it up and play with the meanness needed to impose his will. That might just be what the O line needs in this transition year.  Here’s a telling quote from Wannstedt about Malecki, as reported by Kevin Gorman of the PG - “When we moved John Malecki over, I told him with the depth on the defensive line and experience he would be a factor and in the rotation,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said, “but I really believe in my heart that you can be a starter on the offensive line. Move over in starting right guard and prove that it’s your job. John’s a guy that’s played for two years, and brings toughness and maturity. We need that bad, desperately.”  As much as we hate to hear a Head Coach criticizing his own team like this, we recognize he’s just being honest, but still hope the other O lineman don’t read the Post Gazette. But, the bottom line is that we agree with the coach, we do need that attitude with this new OL, so here’s hoping it works.

In addition, another D lineman, Jared Martin (rsSO) will move over to back up the center position. He’ll have a tough time beating out Robb Houser (JR) who apparently was recruited from Junior College specifically to start at center, and the returning John Bachman (rsJR), who was also switched to center this season from playing guard the last two years. With this move Greg Gaskins (rsFR), who most thought was being groomed at center, will slide over to guard. Still another D lineman, Wayne Jones (rsFR) has been moved over to offense also.

Our returning O linemen have some experience but none are truly set into their positions with the possible exception of C.J. Davis (SR) and maybe Joe Thomas (JR) at the guard positions (for now). Thomas had a bit of a sophomore slump, or more reasonably, didn’t live up to grand expectations after his starting and doing pretty well as a true freshman in 2006. Such is life; and we expect big things from him this season and will watch how forceful he is in Spring Camp. He has been married for over a year now, and that is just about the right amount of deferring to the new bride where he should be ready to take his built up aggressions out on other players.  Motivation, no matter where it comes from, is a good thing.

We have a multitude of other O linemen that could jump up and compete for playing time including two redshirt freshmen in Chris Jacobson and John Fiegler.  Jacobson had to sit out last year with a severe knee injury, but he comes with a great reputation as a HS player and one that earned him a 5* rating while at Keystone Oaks. We think if he’s healthy he’ll be right in the mix. 

At any rate, DW is ensuring he has the type of athletes he wants to not only compete for starting positions this year but to fill out, and move up, the OL depth chart in the coming seasons.

Overall, PITT has some real concerns at the Offensive Line positions, but we think DW did what he needed to do over the off season to address our shortcomings. In losing sterling players like Jeff Otah (possible 1^st round draft pick), and long term starter Mike McGlynn to graduation (we hope graduation, if not, then lost to ineligibility) it’s easy to wail and gnash our collective teeth about how good they were - and they were good.  But we are seeing the results of good recruiting over the last few years and have the depth finally to be able to move personnel around to fill gaps. Teams lose players every year, but the good teams maintain a certain consistency yearly also.  We might finally be in that position.

What we will watch in Spring Camp is pretty simple. We need to see how Robb Houser has fit into the offensive line, has he picked up the signals yet and can he compete at this level?  We will cross our fingers that Pinkston and Jacobson have healed properly and are at 100%. We will watch how well DW’s personnel moves have taken hold, but will also remember that these kids are just now getting over on offense and too much can’t be expected.  Even with that we would like to see John Malecki really burst out as an offensive lineman; we feel he’s the type of kid that might be ready to start after a few games are under his belt.