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Brown to transfer

I remember he tweeted something during the season about being unhappy. That’s part of recruiting higher rated players , they expect to play whether they are ready or not. But if you’re unhappy somewhere, best to move on than stay & stew, best of luck to him.
 
I think you can pin this partially on Deslin coming back. They are deep at end with Deslin, Haba, Morgan, Hayes, Brima and Nahki. That's at least 6 guys in front of him and he wasn't going to play much next year. They also have a few other guys and couple freshman coming in, so the position is crowded.

No way to keep everyone happy. Wish him well if he lands outside the ACC.
 
I think you can pin this partially on Deslin coming back. They are deep at end with Deslin, Haba, Morgan, Hayes, Brima and Nahki. That's at least 6 guys in front of him and he wasn't going to play much next year. They also have a few other guys and couple freshman coming in, so the position is crowded.

No way to keep everyone happy. Wish him well if he lands outside the ACC.
Plus, he came in at 200 pounds. That's really, really light for a DE. Hell, it's light for a LB.
 
I think you can pin this partially on Deslin coming back. They are deep at end with Deslin, Haba, Morgan, Hayes, Brima and Nahki. That's at least 6 guys in front of him and he wasn't going to play much next year. They also have a few other guys and couple freshman coming in, so the position is crowded.

No way to keep everyone happy. Wish him well if he lands outside the ACC.
 
Disappointing, but not shocking. Pitt is now over the scholarship limit by 3. A few more to go….
 
I can’t imagine Pitt’s done looking for transfers either to plug a hole or 2. It’ll all work out, always does.

A lot of good CB transfers out there, Bama, Georgia, LSU all have high rated kids. You would think with Narduzzi's ability to get them in to the pros and the system we run, top CBs would love to come here.
 
It’s always a ranking red flag when a player’s rating takes such a big fall and he “decommits” from a bigger school.
 
I think you can pin this partially on Deslin coming back. They are deep at end with Deslin, Haba, Morgan, Hayes, Brima and Nahki. That's at least 6 guys in front of him and he wasn't going to play much next year. They also have a few other guys and couple freshman coming in, so the position is crowded.

No way to keep everyone happy. Wish him well if he lands outside the ACC.
Even if Deslin didn’t come back all of those guys were ahead of him. Plus Maloney got some PT and Temple would be ahead of him as well. Even though Belgrave hasn’t played I recall Partridge saying in time he expects him to be a player. Brown was buried on the depth chart.

Agree with you that it’s hard to keep everyone happy. But depth like this creates competition making everyone better.
 
You expect VT or UVA here? I can't see him falling to G5 yet but if so East Carolina, Charlotte, Old Dominon... Liberty?
 
https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/202...he-transfer-portal-following-freshman-season/

I know he was highly rated, but IMO he was many years away from seeing the field as a DE with our depth. Not badmouthing him but he looked frail as you can’t play P5 DE at 200 pounds. Good luck to him.

We are now 3 over the limit and we are still recruiting transfers. I expect about 5 more to move on.
I thought the same thing. There's no way someone is going to play DE at a P5 school at 200 lbs. Simply not possible. I thought that Pitt would look to convert him to LB, but I guess he couldn't run well enough to play LB, so he's really the classic tweener. Too small for DE and too slow for LB. Sounds like he should move down a level to play LB.

Cruzer
 


I'd take that 200lber coming out of HS.
I think you have to look at a kids frame to see if they can add/hold weight. TJ is taller and had much wider shoulders than the 6’1” narrow shoulders and frail looking Brown. Plus TJ is clearly a superior athlete. If you watched the DL doing drills and warming up it looks like Brown was a little kid compared to everyone else. He didn’t add any weight since he signed with Pitt compared to someone like Nahkia who added good weight quickly.
 
I thought the same thing. There's no way someone is going to play DE at a P5 school at 200 lbs. Simply not possible. I thought that Pitt would look to convert him to LB, but I guess he couldn't run well enough to play LB, so he's really the classic tweener. Too small for DE and too slow for LB. Sounds like he should move down a level to play LB.

Cruzer

Reminds me of when Wanny trotted out Charles Sallet as a defensive end. Saw him at one of those fan fests and he looked like a free safety. Needless to say that didn't work out too well either.
 
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well we wont know for 2 years how this works out. right now doesnt seem to be surprising nor a loss.
wpuld we we rather hold the ship for 3 more years and watch the kid sit on the sidelines as a 4 star bust or just cut the cord now?
i will say if there was a program to develop him its this one. hes not seeing the field anywhere else next year either unless maybe he drops down
it will be telling to see who takes him. i heard akron has some schollies
 
Programs with new head coaches might like the boost "adding a 4 star" gives

I mean, we get hyped when we get formerly highly rated recruits as transfers. Only natural.

I really would keep an eye on the Virginia schools here.

Obviously wish him the best, I got excited when we landed him although there were always rumbles that he might have benefitted from 2020 recruiting/evaluation issues on his ranking and the LSU flip obviously was what it was
 
a week ago we all loved him, asking about him, when is he playing. He transfers and now all of a sudden, he has the speed of a linemen. amazing i never heard these complaints when he was a panther..
Not entirely true. Some questioned if he could play LB and others said no way because he lacked the speed.
 
Not entirely true. Some questioned if he could play LB and others said no way because he lacked the speed.

This was my comment about Brown a month ago (thread was about Okunlola):

"Yeah, we basically already have a Fearbry on the roster. The same things we say about him are the exact same things the Virginians who watched him play in high school say about Naquan Brown. Not saying either of those guys can't be good, but they're projects. It sounds weird to say, because they're 4-stars, but sometimes the local fans who pay close attention know more than the national guys who watch how they perform in padless camps. I'd much rather have this guy."

It was the nicest way I could think of saying it, because this board has a pretty heavy homer slant and I didn't feel like being accused of being a troll or arguing with someone that day, ha. But I read some things on the Virginia Tech board that make this anything but surprising. Like if 2020 was a more normal year, I think his recruiting narrative would have been a lot different.
 
The DL is loaded with depth. We should probably have another DE or two that are buried on the depth chart move on as well to help with the ‘ship numbers.
 
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The DL is loaded with depth. We should probably have another DE or two that are buried on the depth chart move on as well to help with the ‘ship numbers.
Alexandre, morgan and Habo are all seniors (morgan and Habo do have the Super senior eligibility left though) so you got to be careful. We will need some younger guys to stick around for '23 and beyond.. You also have Bentley, Green and Danielson seniors as well (same thing for the super senior eligibility) and another good year by Kancey and he could be going pro after this season too..

So in short, we have a lot of DL that are entering their final year, 6 players who play a lot and that's not counting Kancey leaving early. i know i know, some can come back for a 6th year..
 
Are you trying to compare a 6-1 and a half 200lb DE that runs a 4.9 to him?

I'm comparing measurables and the idea of not writing off kids because of measurables.

Watt was probably a 4.9 guy too @ 200lbs.

He put 50lbs on over 3-5 years of hard work.

This kid didn't play football his senior year, had no in person classes. So, I think we're just saw an untrained kid who had some natural talents but was completely underdeveloped.

His work ethic at his next school will make or break him.
 
Alexandre, morgan and Habo are all seniors (morgan and Habo do have the Super senior eligibility left though) so you got to be careful. We will need some younger guys to stick around for '23 and beyond.. You also have Bentley, Green and Danielson seniors as well (same thing for the super senior eligibility) and another good year by Kancey and he could be going pro after this season too..

So in short, we have a lot of DL that are entering their final year, 6 players who play a lot and that's not counting Kancey leaving early. i know i know, some can come back for a 6th year..
DE’s - Eligible Beyond 2022
Johnson
Hayes
Belgrave
Temple
Brima
Williams
Okunlola
Scott
Donald (?)
 
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Reminds me of when Wanny trotted out Charles Sallet as a defensive end. Saw him at one of those fan fests and he looked like a free safety. Needless to say that didn't work out too well either.
I remember seeing Sallett up close and thinking man he's basically built like Corey Moore from VT.

The thing with Sallett was they didn't really scheme him to utilize his speed and quicks and to take away from weakness size/power.

Duzz did a great job with Ejuan Price - a 5'10/5'11 kid who was at his best on the move.
 
a week ago we all loved him, asking about him, when is he playing. He transfers and now all of a sudden, he has the speed of a linemen. amazing i never heard these complaints when he was a panther..
I think we were asking about him since he did not play and now we know why. Some kids can't gain useful weight and he may be one.....nit a bad thing as we get older though! I expect him to transfer down to JMU, Appy St., etc
 
I'm comparing measurables and the idea of not writing off kids because of measurables.

Watt was probably a 4.9 guy too @ 200lbs.

He put 50lbs on over 3-5 years of hard work.

This kid didn't play football his senior year, had no in person classes. So, I think we're just saw an untrained kid who had some natural talents but was completely underdeveloped.

His work ethic at his next school will make or break him.
Brown’s frame is going to limit how big he can get. I was very disappointed in Fearbry when I saw him in person (lack of motor), but he has more potential than Brown because of his frame. I could see Brown having a nice career at JMU or somewhere similar.
 
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Brown’s frame is going to limit how big he can get. I was very disappointed in Fearbry when I saw him in person (lack of motor), but he has more potential than Brown because of his frame. I could see Brown having a nice career at JMU or somewhere similar.
No question about it. His height doesn't really bother me though when it comes to adding muscle.
What concerned me was the #'s he produced at the combine in HS were due to having a poor work ethic or not having a S&C program in HS.
 
Brown
Not entirely true. Some questioned if he could play LB and others said no way because he lacked the speed.
with his height and weight, if he lacked speed, how the hell was he a 4 star recruit with a star studded offer sheet? I don’t think too many college recruiters would be counting on being able to turn a 6’1 200 pound kid into a 260 pound DE. I’m not arguing with you -I’ve never seen the kid play, run, lift, move, etc—it just doesn’t make sense to me that an undersized guy without a lot of room to get bigger, who doesn’t move really well, would ever get the kinds of offers this kid had. Presumably he performed at prospect camps and everyone had film on him.
 
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