It's Week Two of training camp, and that means one thing:
Bumps and bruises.
Every year, this is what happens. The team moves into the second week of camp and guys start showing up on the sidelines wearing no-contact jerseys - if they're wearing pads at all - or being held out of drills.
And that's the case at Pitt. On Monday, redshirt freshman offensive tackle Alex Bookser and redshirt senior linebacker Nicholas Grigsby were limited in practice, and on Tuesday, there were probably a dozen - or more - limited players.
The most notable players in that category were redshirt senior offensive lineman Artie Rowell and sophomore running back Chris James. Those two are notable because of the roles they play on the team and the fact that both were held out of practice - not just limited.
Pat Narduzzi wasn't looking to elaborate on either situation, but he also didn't seem too concerned before practice on Tuesday.
"Chris just tweaked something last night. I won't talk about the injuries, but they're both day-to-day. Nothing major."
We'll see if Narduzzi is being totally forthcoming - not that he's under any obligation to be - but he did say that none of the bumps and bruises look like they have the potential to extend into the season at this point. So that's a positive.
With Rowell out, redshirt sophomore Alex Officer slid inside from right guard to center and redshirt freshman Mike Herndon stepped up from the second team to the first team at right guard.
Bookser was limited again on Tuesday, so the first-team offensive line had Adam Bisnowaty at left tackle,Dorian Johnson at left guard, Officer at center, Herndon at right guard and Brian O'Neill at right tackle.
When Jaryd Jones-Smith suffered a season-ending knee injury, I said that Pitt could absorb that loss but needed to avoid having any more. On Tuesday, we saw what the line would look like with not just one but two more losses. The left side and center are still solid, but the right side of the line is extremely green - especially since neither Herndon nor O'Neill was playing on the offensive line a year ago.
But again, Narduzzi said that the limited players are suffering from camp bumps and bruises, so we'll take him at his word for the time being and see how things develop.
So yes, there are players who are held out of practice and guys limping around and that kind of thing, but until something serious reveals itself, we'll chalk most of that up to the rigors of camp.
"Guys are pushing through, a little banged up going into number 10, which is par for the course," Narduzzi said. "I think you're always a little banged up at this point. But a lot of guys are working through it, and we'll go from there."
Getting a chance
Speaking of O'Neill, I'm hearing a lot of positive reviews about him. He's got the body for offensive tackle and still seems to be able to move well even after adding 30 pounds this summer. And by all accounts, he has really taken to the position.
"He's looked really good so far," Narduzzi said. "We're happy with where he is. Obviously he's a lot bigger and he's done a nice job in there."
In the best-case scenario, O'Neill isn't needed for meaningful snaps this season. But in 2016, Rowell will be gone, so an offensive line of Bisnowaty-Johnson-Officer-Bookser-O'Neill could be a pretty formidable one.
At running back, the absence of James creates more opportunities for freshman Darrin Hall. I mentioned him yesterday as having a shot at playing as a freshman, but I also said that much of that will depend on which running backs are healthy.
In the last two days, we've seen Rachid Ibrahim get held out and James limited - plus Qadree Ollisonlimited after having surgery on his finger - and sure enough, Hall has gotten a lot of work. Pitt may not be able to get Hall a lion's share of carries this season if he plays, but a James-like workload seems reasonable.
Remember that James was surrounded by upperclassmen in James Conner, Ibrahim and Isaac Bennett, but he still logged 87 carries last season. 30 of those came in the Syracuse and Miami games when Conner was nursing a hip injury. But while Hall is looking up at Conner, James, Ibrahim and Ollison, it wouldn't take too many injuries to create some space for him.
Freshmen
For what it's worth, Narduzzi said there are "three or four" freshmen he thinks will play this season. He wouldn't name names, but I can't imagine his list differs all that much from the one I hypothesized about yesterday.
To wit, I suggested that Hall, Jordan Whitehead, Quadree Henderson and Anthony McKee would get a shot to see the field. Whitehead is the lock of the group, and I have varying degrees of confidence about the other three.
One player to keep an eye on is Tre Tipton. I still think he's going to redshirt, but he could be pushing for playing time. The coaches used him a bit on punt return drills Tuesday, and while that doesn't mean anything definitively about his playing time this season, it does mean the coaches are considering it (at least in my estimation).
I think there are a handful of guys who are pretty much certain to redshirt and a couple who are most likely to play; that leaves the middle group - which is probably the smallest group - where a player like Tipton exists.
Continued in the next post...
Bumps and bruises.
Every year, this is what happens. The team moves into the second week of camp and guys start showing up on the sidelines wearing no-contact jerseys - if they're wearing pads at all - or being held out of drills.
And that's the case at Pitt. On Monday, redshirt freshman offensive tackle Alex Bookser and redshirt senior linebacker Nicholas Grigsby were limited in practice, and on Tuesday, there were probably a dozen - or more - limited players.
The most notable players in that category were redshirt senior offensive lineman Artie Rowell and sophomore running back Chris James. Those two are notable because of the roles they play on the team and the fact that both were held out of practice - not just limited.
Pat Narduzzi wasn't looking to elaborate on either situation, but he also didn't seem too concerned before practice on Tuesday.
"Chris just tweaked something last night. I won't talk about the injuries, but they're both day-to-day. Nothing major."
We'll see if Narduzzi is being totally forthcoming - not that he's under any obligation to be - but he did say that none of the bumps and bruises look like they have the potential to extend into the season at this point. So that's a positive.
With Rowell out, redshirt sophomore Alex Officer slid inside from right guard to center and redshirt freshman Mike Herndon stepped up from the second team to the first team at right guard.
Bookser was limited again on Tuesday, so the first-team offensive line had Adam Bisnowaty at left tackle,Dorian Johnson at left guard, Officer at center, Herndon at right guard and Brian O'Neill at right tackle.
When Jaryd Jones-Smith suffered a season-ending knee injury, I said that Pitt could absorb that loss but needed to avoid having any more. On Tuesday, we saw what the line would look like with not just one but two more losses. The left side and center are still solid, but the right side of the line is extremely green - especially since neither Herndon nor O'Neill was playing on the offensive line a year ago.
But again, Narduzzi said that the limited players are suffering from camp bumps and bruises, so we'll take him at his word for the time being and see how things develop.
So yes, there are players who are held out of practice and guys limping around and that kind of thing, but until something serious reveals itself, we'll chalk most of that up to the rigors of camp.
"Guys are pushing through, a little banged up going into number 10, which is par for the course," Narduzzi said. "I think you're always a little banged up at this point. But a lot of guys are working through it, and we'll go from there."
Getting a chance
Speaking of O'Neill, I'm hearing a lot of positive reviews about him. He's got the body for offensive tackle and still seems to be able to move well even after adding 30 pounds this summer. And by all accounts, he has really taken to the position.
"He's looked really good so far," Narduzzi said. "We're happy with where he is. Obviously he's a lot bigger and he's done a nice job in there."
In the best-case scenario, O'Neill isn't needed for meaningful snaps this season. But in 2016, Rowell will be gone, so an offensive line of Bisnowaty-Johnson-Officer-Bookser-O'Neill could be a pretty formidable one.
At running back, the absence of James creates more opportunities for freshman Darrin Hall. I mentioned him yesterday as having a shot at playing as a freshman, but I also said that much of that will depend on which running backs are healthy.
In the last two days, we've seen Rachid Ibrahim get held out and James limited - plus Qadree Ollisonlimited after having surgery on his finger - and sure enough, Hall has gotten a lot of work. Pitt may not be able to get Hall a lion's share of carries this season if he plays, but a James-like workload seems reasonable.
Remember that James was surrounded by upperclassmen in James Conner, Ibrahim and Isaac Bennett, but he still logged 87 carries last season. 30 of those came in the Syracuse and Miami games when Conner was nursing a hip injury. But while Hall is looking up at Conner, James, Ibrahim and Ollison, it wouldn't take too many injuries to create some space for him.
Freshmen
For what it's worth, Narduzzi said there are "three or four" freshmen he thinks will play this season. He wouldn't name names, but I can't imagine his list differs all that much from the one I hypothesized about yesterday.
To wit, I suggested that Hall, Jordan Whitehead, Quadree Henderson and Anthony McKee would get a shot to see the field. Whitehead is the lock of the group, and I have varying degrees of confidence about the other three.
One player to keep an eye on is Tre Tipton. I still think he's going to redshirt, but he could be pushing for playing time. The coaches used him a bit on punt return drills Tuesday, and while that doesn't mean anything definitively about his playing time this season, it does mean the coaches are considering it (at least in my estimation).
I think there are a handful of guys who are pretty much certain to redshirt and a couple who are most likely to play; that leaves the middle group - which is probably the smallest group - where a player like Tipton exists.
Continued in the next post...
