Pitt Panther Prowl

PITT FOOTBALL SPRING CAMP: WEEKLY NOTES: 4/5

OK, it’s halfway through the PITT football team’s Spring Camp and they have finished their first live scrimmage. So, what have we seen so far…

In the scrimmage held yesterday, the defense dominated the offense. I expected it as should every other PITT fan - that’s what happens in the beginning of a new year. The defensive players can react rather then have to run an organized play like the offense is forced to.  Our O line is getting torn up but let’s not panic at this point - our D line looks to be excellent and we are nowhere near having the 2008 starting four offensive lineman out on the field together yet, and won’t until Training Camp.  So, right now it’s enough to get the guys like Robb Houser, John Malecki and Jordan Gibbs out on the field and practicing with each other to get acclimated - Gibbs off the practice squad, Malecki to the offensive side of the ball and Houser to D1 level play.

There were some individual performances that deserve mention.

Dom DeCicco (rsSO) has been playing well enough to create a small controversy regarding the Safety position. I don’t think it will become a full blown question here, but everyone and their brother wants Elijah Fields in at the safety position when the season starts - and then there is the question of the returning veteran of the Safeties - Eric Thatcher (rsSR). Our new DC Phil Bennett has changed some defensive strategies and has the Safety calling the defensive signals - so that will require someone with experience and solid defensive knowledge to be on the field. Thatcher will start at one safety in my opinion. The other safety will be DeCicco to start I think - although we will find out more as this camp progresses. Either way it’s a great problem to have - more talent then we know what to do with.

Billy Stull seems to be separating himself from the pack at QB - he has been performing well, especially on some deep throws for TDs and appears to have come back 100% from his thumb injury.  Pat Bostick has shown improvement in some areas (physically in his losing excess weight and some improved zing on his passes).  Kevan Smith is still in the race but more and more it appears Greg Cross will be relegated to a niche role as a change of pace QB - which was really what he was recruited for. He hasn’t shown any passing skill at this level of play yet and is taking fourth team snaps as of the scrimmage yesterday.

I’ve previously talked about MY thoughts on Stull and Bostick, and as time goes by I’m more convinced Pat Bostick is a big part of DW’s and PITT’s plans at QB - just not in 2008. The way I see this shaking out is that Stull will start at QB, Kevan Smith will come in for a relief if needed and the coaching staff will target Bostick for a redshirt season - if at all possible. However, should Stull go down for an extended period I wouldn’t be surprised if Bostick is called on to take over and thus - burn his redshirt.  One line of thought is that with McCoy in our backfield we have the luxury of not having to rely solely on the QB for offensive production - that he can manage the game, play error limited ball and we still win. After McCoy leaves (maybe as early as 2009) then we need to have a more star quality QB - which Bostick could become if he has a full year to work on his physical game.

These are not original thoughts folks; it’s what should have happened last season with Bostick. A friend closer to the situation then I am shared his knowledge with me along these lines, and it makes perfect sense.  Others might not like the idea of Bostick sitting after starting eight games in 2007, but I want to remind them that those starts were made in extremis - Cavanaugh had no choice but to put him in.  A redshirt year is an investment that benefits both PITT and Pat Bostick and should be viewed as a move borne out of strength rather than a punishment.

Our LB corps may be a lot of fun to watch, both in the time leading up to the scrimmage on the 19^th and going into Training Camp. Suffice to say, we are in pretty good shape with our returning three starters - McKillop, Gunn and Murray - but Gunn and Murray may be looking over their shoulders at some younger and very talented kids wanting to get playing time. Max Gruder (sounds like a player’s name doesn’t it?) Brandon Lindsey and Tristan Roberts (whose names sound more like British detectives) have all been mentioned as playing well and we might see one or more get positioned to start over the course of the next few months. This is another good and somewhat unfamiliar situation for PITT to be in.

I’ll keep an eye on our Wide Receivers and Tight Ends going into the Spring Game. We’ll get to see a lot of Dorin Dickerson - and so far he hasn’t disappointed the staff. He appears to be catching everything thrown to him and is getting great yard after the catch (YAC) with his running skills. His blocking? Well, we haven’t heard much on that score yet, but I’m thinking he’s at TE now only due to Byham and Pelusi being kept out of drills by injuries. We’ll see DD move over to more of an H-Back position when we go into Training Camp, but for now he’s getting the lion’s share of work at TE and making the best of it.

Something to think about is that by the end of April our roster will change a bit - we’ll have some 5^th year seniors being asked to move on to free up scholarships we have already given out, and some kids may not make it through their final exams. Let’s hope academic problems don’t happen to anyone, regardless of how good a football player they are.

I’ll have more in a few days….