Pitt was back on the field Wednesday morning for another practice in the South Side as the Panthers grind through the third week of training camp, and here’s a look at some of the things that stood out from the morning session.
- The word of the day for Pat Narduzzi was “consistency.” He talked a lot about consistency during his pre-practice briefing, and while we can’t really see the consistency itself, it’s worth noting the players he mentioned as being the most consistent so far in camp.
On offense, Narduzzi highlighted Phil Jurkovec, Bub Means, Daniel Carter, C’Bo Flemister and Matt Goncalves. On defense, all he could come up with was M.J. Devonshire and Shayne Simon; that’s not exactly encouraging, particularly when there are some players on this defense who will be relied upon in big ways this season. Guys like Bangally Kamara and Marquis Williams and the safeties - especially the safeties - need to be consistent to avoid having this defense take a big step backward for the first time in a long time.
I’m of the mind that Narduzzi isn’t too worried about some of the players I brought up. The coaches have high expectations for guys like Kamara and Williams, and I think they believe those players will live up to the expectations or exceed them.
- The safeties are another story. The players in that group have some pretty high ceilings, but the inexperience factor is looming large here, so while the coaches seem to have some confidence in Javon McIntyre and P.J. O’Brien and Stephon Hall and Donovan McMillon, the learning curve is still a real concern, particularly at a position that Narduzzi himself called “still is the hardest spot out there.” There’s a lot that gets put on the safeties’ plates in this defensive scheme, and while I think it’s a challenging defense for players at a lot of positions - the cornerbacks and the Star linebacker certainly don’t have it easy - I think the safeties have a really tough job. And that’s compounded by the fact that when they make a mistake, the outcome is often rendered in terms of points, not yards.
I’ve said all offseason that there might be some rough patches for the safeties, especially early in the season. The upside is that all four of those players - McIntyre, O’Brien, Hall and McMillon - are really good athletes who have all been around the defense for a few years (with the exception of McMillon, who arrived in January).
- Narduzzi also didn’t mention any defensive linemen among his most consistent players in camp, but when asked directly about that position group, he did say that Tyler Bentley, David Green, Devin Danielson, Deandre Jules, Sean FitzSimmons, Dayon Hayes, Nahki Johnson and Nate Temple have been mostly consistent in camp.
Narduzzi also said that Hayes, Johnson and Temple are the top three ends right now. I do wonder about Bam Brima; he’s built like an NFL player, but that’s not enough, of course. He needs to actually turn those impressive physical skills into impactful play on the field. If he fails to do so, it could further open the door for younger ends like Jimmy Scott and Sam Okunlola.
- As far as the consistent offensive players, Narduzzi’s call-outs were the guys you would want to see: in particular, Jurkovec, Means and Goncalves. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to see guys like Carter and Flemister emerging behind Rodney Hammond (who is still the top back).
I’m getting more and more intrigued with the role Carter might have in this offense. I still think Hammond and Flemister are 1 and 2, but Carter very well may be No. 3, with Derrick Davis and the freshmen behind them.
- I also think it’s looking more and more like Goncalves is finding a new home at left tackle. I know the topic has come up on the board a few times: if Goncalves is the team’s best lineman, should he move from right tackle to left tackle? I think that move has happened/is happening/is being explored. It makes sense to me, and it’s probably good for Goncalves’ development and NFL prospects.
- Concurrent with that move has been more time at right tackle for Branson Taylor, who worked at left tackle all last season. The looming shadow, of course, is Ryan Baer. I still think Dave Borbely is trying to find the best spot for Baer which, given his versatility, could mean identifying which of the current first-team guards and tackles are at the bottom of the list and putting Baer ahead of that player.
However it shakes out, I think we’ll see Baer on the field a lot this year - either in rotation or simply taking one of the starting jobs.
- It was definitely interesting to watch the beginning of practice on Wednesday. After the team stretches, Narduzzi brings the players for a quick pep talk and then has one player break them down. That entails a player-led pep talk and then the team chant. On Wednesday, Baer was the guy who got the call to break the team down, which certainly caught my eye. It’s a lot of respect for a redshirt freshman.
- Narduzzi mentioned that Jahvante Royal has moved to defensive back. That would be a move back to corner; he started his career there in 2020 and then moved to wide receiver late last season. Royal played very little on defense in his first three years (less than 50 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus) and even less on offense (three snaps in the Miami game last season). Given that Royal is now entering his fourth year at Pitt and has switched positions multiple times, it’s hard to not start viewing him as unlikely to contribute.
- The Royal switch doesn’t move the needle much for me, but Narduzzi had a quote in that discussion that did get my attention:
“We thought maybe he could help us on offense but with those young guys emerging, they just kind of got on top of him and Jahvante’s going to give us more depth at corner as well.”
And here we have another reference to the young receivers, who have been getting a whole lot of praise this week (and earlier). We’ve talked throughout the offseason about needing more receivers to step up, and Kenny Johnson certainly seems to be the top candidate there, with Zion Fowler-El right behind him. It’s not tough to see a receiver rotation of Means, Konata Mumpfield, Daejon Reynolds, Johnson and Fowler-El.
- That said, we can’t fully ignore Che Nwabuko, who seems to be having a good camp as well. So that might be your top six.
- We’re about to interview some of the analysts from the ACC Network, who are at Pitt’s practice this morning, so we’ll cut it off for now. But we’ll have videos, photos, interviews and more later today.
- The word of the day for Pat Narduzzi was “consistency.” He talked a lot about consistency during his pre-practice briefing, and while we can’t really see the consistency itself, it’s worth noting the players he mentioned as being the most consistent so far in camp.
On offense, Narduzzi highlighted Phil Jurkovec, Bub Means, Daniel Carter, C’Bo Flemister and Matt Goncalves. On defense, all he could come up with was M.J. Devonshire and Shayne Simon; that’s not exactly encouraging, particularly when there are some players on this defense who will be relied upon in big ways this season. Guys like Bangally Kamara and Marquis Williams and the safeties - especially the safeties - need to be consistent to avoid having this defense take a big step backward for the first time in a long time.
I’m of the mind that Narduzzi isn’t too worried about some of the players I brought up. The coaches have high expectations for guys like Kamara and Williams, and I think they believe those players will live up to the expectations or exceed them.
- The safeties are another story. The players in that group have some pretty high ceilings, but the inexperience factor is looming large here, so while the coaches seem to have some confidence in Javon McIntyre and P.J. O’Brien and Stephon Hall and Donovan McMillon, the learning curve is still a real concern, particularly at a position that Narduzzi himself called “still is the hardest spot out there.” There’s a lot that gets put on the safeties’ plates in this defensive scheme, and while I think it’s a challenging defense for players at a lot of positions - the cornerbacks and the Star linebacker certainly don’t have it easy - I think the safeties have a really tough job. And that’s compounded by the fact that when they make a mistake, the outcome is often rendered in terms of points, not yards.
I’ve said all offseason that there might be some rough patches for the safeties, especially early in the season. The upside is that all four of those players - McIntyre, O’Brien, Hall and McMillon - are really good athletes who have all been around the defense for a few years (with the exception of McMillon, who arrived in January).
- Narduzzi also didn’t mention any defensive linemen among his most consistent players in camp, but when asked directly about that position group, he did say that Tyler Bentley, David Green, Devin Danielson, Deandre Jules, Sean FitzSimmons, Dayon Hayes, Nahki Johnson and Nate Temple have been mostly consistent in camp.
Narduzzi also said that Hayes, Johnson and Temple are the top three ends right now. I do wonder about Bam Brima; he’s built like an NFL player, but that’s not enough, of course. He needs to actually turn those impressive physical skills into impactful play on the field. If he fails to do so, it could further open the door for younger ends like Jimmy Scott and Sam Okunlola.
- As far as the consistent offensive players, Narduzzi’s call-outs were the guys you would want to see: in particular, Jurkovec, Means and Goncalves. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to see guys like Carter and Flemister emerging behind Rodney Hammond (who is still the top back).
I’m getting more and more intrigued with the role Carter might have in this offense. I still think Hammond and Flemister are 1 and 2, but Carter very well may be No. 3, with Derrick Davis and the freshmen behind them.
- I also think it’s looking more and more like Goncalves is finding a new home at left tackle. I know the topic has come up on the board a few times: if Goncalves is the team’s best lineman, should he move from right tackle to left tackle? I think that move has happened/is happening/is being explored. It makes sense to me, and it’s probably good for Goncalves’ development and NFL prospects.
- Concurrent with that move has been more time at right tackle for Branson Taylor, who worked at left tackle all last season. The looming shadow, of course, is Ryan Baer. I still think Dave Borbely is trying to find the best spot for Baer which, given his versatility, could mean identifying which of the current first-team guards and tackles are at the bottom of the list and putting Baer ahead of that player.
However it shakes out, I think we’ll see Baer on the field a lot this year - either in rotation or simply taking one of the starting jobs.
- It was definitely interesting to watch the beginning of practice on Wednesday. After the team stretches, Narduzzi brings the players for a quick pep talk and then has one player break them down. That entails a player-led pep talk and then the team chant. On Wednesday, Baer was the guy who got the call to break the team down, which certainly caught my eye. It’s a lot of respect for a redshirt freshman.
- Narduzzi mentioned that Jahvante Royal has moved to defensive back. That would be a move back to corner; he started his career there in 2020 and then moved to wide receiver late last season. Royal played very little on defense in his first three years (less than 50 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus) and even less on offense (three snaps in the Miami game last season). Given that Royal is now entering his fourth year at Pitt and has switched positions multiple times, it’s hard to not start viewing him as unlikely to contribute.
- The Royal switch doesn’t move the needle much for me, but Narduzzi had a quote in that discussion that did get my attention:
“We thought maybe he could help us on offense but with those young guys emerging, they just kind of got on top of him and Jahvante’s going to give us more depth at corner as well.”
And here we have another reference to the young receivers, who have been getting a whole lot of praise this week (and earlier). We’ve talked throughout the offseason about needing more receivers to step up, and Kenny Johnson certainly seems to be the top candidate there, with Zion Fowler-El right behind him. It’s not tough to see a receiver rotation of Means, Konata Mumpfield, Daejon Reynolds, Johnson and Fowler-El.
- That said, we can’t fully ignore Che Nwabuko, who seems to be having a good camp as well. So that might be your top six.
- We’re about to interview some of the analysts from the ACC Network, who are at Pitt’s practice this morning, so we’ll cut it off for now. But we’ll have videos, photos, interviews and more later today.
