Pitt was back in the indoor facility for Thursday’s morning practice. Here’s a look at what stood out.
This week features a pretty unique schedule for the Panthers. They have four practices in all: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The team was in full pads on Tuesday but they just had helmets and shoulder pads today, and I imagine they’ll be in even less gear tomorrow before what I expect to be the first scrimmage of spring on Saturday.
- As always, I watched the quarterbacks a decent amount today, and got a lot of video of those guys throwing short-field touchdown passes to the receivers (or attempting to). Nate Yarnell continues to be the clear leader in the group with Christian Veilleux behind him. But it wouldn’t surprise me if the coaches would say Eli Holstein is No. 3 right now ahead of Ty Dieffenbach. Holstein seemed to work ahead of Dieffenbach quite a bit during the drills I saw, but that might go back and forth.
What I really want to see is how Holstein, in particular, works in a live drill. I mean, the quarterbacks are never truly “live,” but an 11-on-11 series with receivers and running backs and tight ends and a back seven trying to defend those guys - I want to see him work in that setting.
Holstein has a lot of physical tools. He’s not the tallest quarterback on the roster - few guys will be when they’re on the team with Yarnell and Dieffenbach - but he looks really solid in how he’s put-together. I don’t want to say he’s built like a tight end, due to the rumors about Alabama wanting to move him to that position. But he is very solid.
To me, Holstein is the dark horse in the quarterback race. My money is on Yarnell being the starter, but if anyone is going to unseat him, I think Holstein might have the best chance (although that still feels like a long shot).
I do like the long-term potential of Julian Dugger, but a redshirt feels like the most likely outcome there.
- Stop me if you heard this before, but I’m bullish on the linebackers this season.
I know: I spent a lot of time hyping the linebackers last year. At the very least, I spent a lot of time hyping one specific linebacker and, well, that didn’t exactly work out.
I’m confident that it will work out this year, though, for a few reasons.
For starters, I think Pitt has some really good returning contributors. Solomon DeShields had a breakout season last year and figures to be the Panthers’ best linebacker, one of their best defenders and possibly one of the best overall players on the team. Brandon George has played a lot and knows the defense well, and for whatever it’s worth, Pro Football Focus had him as Pitt’s highest-graded defender last season (although he was 16th on the team in defensive snaps). I think he’s a solid option in the middle.
But while DeShields and George have the most experience, they’re not alone in having seen the field. Kyle Louis played 177 snaps last season and Braylan Lovelace played 160, per PFF; those two snap counts put Louis and Lovelace among the top six linebackers on Pitt’s 2023 roster. And Jordan Bass was right behind them with 114.
I bring this up because I think it’s a key difference between last year’s linebacker corps and this year’s group. Last year, Pitt had DeShields, Bangally Kamara and Shayne Simon having played a lot the previous season, but no other returning linebacker had seen all that much time.
This year, George and DeShields played a lot and Louis, Lovelace and Bass all saw the field. Throw in Ohio transfer Keye Thompson and you’ve got a full two-deep of linebackers with pretty decent experience (sophomore Rasheem Biles played last season, but most of his time was on special teams).
It’s an experienced group and, from looking at them, a pretty talented one. The athleticism at the outside spots - DeShields, Louis, Bass and Biles - is really impressive, and I think those guys are pretty physical, too.
- Right now, I think the projected starters would be George in the middle flanked by DeShields (Money) and Louis (Star), with Biles behind Louis and Bass behind DeShields and Lovelace and Thompson filling in the middle.
To me, that looks like a really good group.
- I would say the same for the safeties, too, where the difference a year makes is substantial. Javon McIntyre and Donovan McMillon were Pitt’s leading tacklers last season and they were second and third, respectively, in snaps behind M.J. Devonshire. They also played well, grading out as Pitt’s No. 3 and 4 defenders, per PFF (McMillon rated higher than McIntyre).
Now I expect those guys to be even better with all of that experience. We saw the jumps Erick Hallett and Brandon Hill made once they got some playing time under their belts; I think McIntyre and McMillon will make similar jumps.
- I like the depth behind McIntyre and McMillon, too. Cruce Brookins has been one of the most talked-about guys in spring camp so far for his work behind McMillon at boundary safety, and P.J. O’Brien played 350 snaps last season; he’s an experienced veteran working as a reserve, which is not exactly something you see very often in the age of the transfer portal. And Jesse Anderson has had a good spring so far, too.
So you’re looking at three experienced safeties and two promising young players. That’s good depth and encouraging for the season.
- I know the question marks are at cornerback, but after watching those guys today, I’m getting a bit more bullish on the position. It wasn’t that long ago that we all celebrated Pitt’s recruiting at defensive back, and I don’t think that praise was misguided. This staff has recruited well in the secondary, and I think the way things have gone in waves kind of speaks to that.
At safety, there was Jordan Whitehead; then there was the Damar Hamlin/Paris Ford duo; next came Hallett and Hill; and now McIntyre and McMillon.
Cornerback has been similar. Pitt more or less went from Dane Jackson and Avonte Maddox to Damari Mathis and Jason Pinnock to the trio that played last season - Devonshire, Marquis Williams and A.J. Woods.
That’s a solid seven years of cornerbacks, and they were all pretty good.
I am coming around to the idea that the trend continues. The staff obviously supplemented the recruited players with Tamon Lynum as a transfer from Nebraska, but as I watched guys like Ryland Gandy and Rashad Battle and even freshman Nigel Maynard - it’s a group that looks like Pitt corners.
They’re big, rangy and athletic with some solid speed in the group. They’ll get beat - corners in this defense always do - but they’re going to challenge opposing receivers pretty well, too. We’ll see how the depth shakes out, but I think there’s more potential in that group than I previously thought.
- Thursday was practice No. 5 of spring camp, and the team will have a light session for No. 6 on Friday before scrimmaging on Saturday. We’ll have coverage of practice today and tomorrow, and then we’ll see what we can dig up about the scrimmage over the weekend.
- On the recruiting front, 2025 Central Catholic athlete Bradley Gompers was at practice on Thursday. Aldie (Va.) Lightridge safety Xavier Dillard, who has an offer from Pitt, was also in attendance.
This week features a pretty unique schedule for the Panthers. They have four practices in all: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The team was in full pads on Tuesday but they just had helmets and shoulder pads today, and I imagine they’ll be in even less gear tomorrow before what I expect to be the first scrimmage of spring on Saturday.
- As always, I watched the quarterbacks a decent amount today, and got a lot of video of those guys throwing short-field touchdown passes to the receivers (or attempting to). Nate Yarnell continues to be the clear leader in the group with Christian Veilleux behind him. But it wouldn’t surprise me if the coaches would say Eli Holstein is No. 3 right now ahead of Ty Dieffenbach. Holstein seemed to work ahead of Dieffenbach quite a bit during the drills I saw, but that might go back and forth.
What I really want to see is how Holstein, in particular, works in a live drill. I mean, the quarterbacks are never truly “live,” but an 11-on-11 series with receivers and running backs and tight ends and a back seven trying to defend those guys - I want to see him work in that setting.
Holstein has a lot of physical tools. He’s not the tallest quarterback on the roster - few guys will be when they’re on the team with Yarnell and Dieffenbach - but he looks really solid in how he’s put-together. I don’t want to say he’s built like a tight end, due to the rumors about Alabama wanting to move him to that position. But he is very solid.
To me, Holstein is the dark horse in the quarterback race. My money is on Yarnell being the starter, but if anyone is going to unseat him, I think Holstein might have the best chance (although that still feels like a long shot).
I do like the long-term potential of Julian Dugger, but a redshirt feels like the most likely outcome there.
- Stop me if you heard this before, but I’m bullish on the linebackers this season.
I know: I spent a lot of time hyping the linebackers last year. At the very least, I spent a lot of time hyping one specific linebacker and, well, that didn’t exactly work out.
I’m confident that it will work out this year, though, for a few reasons.
For starters, I think Pitt has some really good returning contributors. Solomon DeShields had a breakout season last year and figures to be the Panthers’ best linebacker, one of their best defenders and possibly one of the best overall players on the team. Brandon George has played a lot and knows the defense well, and for whatever it’s worth, Pro Football Focus had him as Pitt’s highest-graded defender last season (although he was 16th on the team in defensive snaps). I think he’s a solid option in the middle.
But while DeShields and George have the most experience, they’re not alone in having seen the field. Kyle Louis played 177 snaps last season and Braylan Lovelace played 160, per PFF; those two snap counts put Louis and Lovelace among the top six linebackers on Pitt’s 2023 roster. And Jordan Bass was right behind them with 114.
I bring this up because I think it’s a key difference between last year’s linebacker corps and this year’s group. Last year, Pitt had DeShields, Bangally Kamara and Shayne Simon having played a lot the previous season, but no other returning linebacker had seen all that much time.
This year, George and DeShields played a lot and Louis, Lovelace and Bass all saw the field. Throw in Ohio transfer Keye Thompson and you’ve got a full two-deep of linebackers with pretty decent experience (sophomore Rasheem Biles played last season, but most of his time was on special teams).
It’s an experienced group and, from looking at them, a pretty talented one. The athleticism at the outside spots - DeShields, Louis, Bass and Biles - is really impressive, and I think those guys are pretty physical, too.
- Right now, I think the projected starters would be George in the middle flanked by DeShields (Money) and Louis (Star), with Biles behind Louis and Bass behind DeShields and Lovelace and Thompson filling in the middle.
To me, that looks like a really good group.
- I would say the same for the safeties, too, where the difference a year makes is substantial. Javon McIntyre and Donovan McMillon were Pitt’s leading tacklers last season and they were second and third, respectively, in snaps behind M.J. Devonshire. They also played well, grading out as Pitt’s No. 3 and 4 defenders, per PFF (McMillon rated higher than McIntyre).
Now I expect those guys to be even better with all of that experience. We saw the jumps Erick Hallett and Brandon Hill made once they got some playing time under their belts; I think McIntyre and McMillon will make similar jumps.
- I like the depth behind McIntyre and McMillon, too. Cruce Brookins has been one of the most talked-about guys in spring camp so far for his work behind McMillon at boundary safety, and P.J. O’Brien played 350 snaps last season; he’s an experienced veteran working as a reserve, which is not exactly something you see very often in the age of the transfer portal. And Jesse Anderson has had a good spring so far, too.
So you’re looking at three experienced safeties and two promising young players. That’s good depth and encouraging for the season.
- I know the question marks are at cornerback, but after watching those guys today, I’m getting a bit more bullish on the position. It wasn’t that long ago that we all celebrated Pitt’s recruiting at defensive back, and I don’t think that praise was misguided. This staff has recruited well in the secondary, and I think the way things have gone in waves kind of speaks to that.
At safety, there was Jordan Whitehead; then there was the Damar Hamlin/Paris Ford duo; next came Hallett and Hill; and now McIntyre and McMillon.
Cornerback has been similar. Pitt more or less went from Dane Jackson and Avonte Maddox to Damari Mathis and Jason Pinnock to the trio that played last season - Devonshire, Marquis Williams and A.J. Woods.
That’s a solid seven years of cornerbacks, and they were all pretty good.
I am coming around to the idea that the trend continues. The staff obviously supplemented the recruited players with Tamon Lynum as a transfer from Nebraska, but as I watched guys like Ryland Gandy and Rashad Battle and even freshman Nigel Maynard - it’s a group that looks like Pitt corners.
They’re big, rangy and athletic with some solid speed in the group. They’ll get beat - corners in this defense always do - but they’re going to challenge opposing receivers pretty well, too. We’ll see how the depth shakes out, but I think there’s more potential in that group than I previously thought.
- Thursday was practice No. 5 of spring camp, and the team will have a light session for No. 6 on Friday before scrimmaging on Saturday. We’ll have coverage of practice today and tomorrow, and then we’ll see what we can dig up about the scrimmage over the weekend.
- On the recruiting front, 2025 Central Catholic athlete Bradley Gompers was at practice on Thursday. Aldie (Va.) Lightridge safety Xavier Dillard, who has an offer from Pitt, was also in attendance.
