With the final scrimmage of camp set to take place on Saturday, Pitt went light in Friday’s practice, wearing “shells” and basically no pads aside from helmets. Still, there were some things to see.
- I spent a lot of time watching the quarterbacks and receivers working together, and we’ll have some video of those guys posted this afternoon. The biggest thing that stood out to me was the freshmen. Kenny Johnson, Lamar Seymore and Zion Fowler-El were working in the drill I watched, and they all looked really good.
None of those three is going to be the tallest receiver on the field, but they’ve got good enough size that it won’t be an issue. They’re also good athletes and they look fast, which seems like a good set of traits to have, and they all made good adjustments to the ball for some impressive catches.
Johnson has gotten the most press this camp, and for good reason; he’s the most likely freshman to see the field at receiver this season. But Fowler-El and Seymore both looked like they could contribute, at least in the drills I watched, and they’ve probably done enough in camp to earn playing time.
- Pat Narduzzi said on Friday morning that the freshman linebackers will be pushing for playing time as well, although he cautioned that the coaches didn’t want to waste anyone’s redshirts.
“Lovelace, for sure,” Narduzzi said, referencing Braylan Lovelace from Leechburg. Lovelace enrolled in January and finished spring camp as possibly the best-performing freshman in spring camp, which is pretty notable for a guy who came in rather unheralded.
Also notable is that Lovelace told us after practice on Friday that he has gained 25 pounds since he enrolled in January.l Having seen him in person last June and then standing next to him for his interview today, I can confirm that he has really bulked up. I think there’s a solid chance he ends up on the official two-deep, and I think it’s a lock that he’ll see the field. Special teams is almost a certainty, and I won’t be surprised to see him playing in the base defense.
- If I had to name names right now, I would say the top six linebackers - in no order - are Bangally Kamara, Shayne Simon, Solomon DeShields, Brandon George, Kyle Louis and Lovelace. That’s a really athletic group, and I think the ceiling is pretty high for those guys.
- Speaking of depth, I talked about the offensive line yesterday, and after watching those guys more today, I think these are probably the top backups at each position:
Right tackle - Terrence Enos
Right guard - BJ Williams
Center - Terrence Moore
Left guard - Jason Collier
Left tackle - Ryan Baer
I still think Baer is the swing player here. He can play either tackle spot, and if an injury happens in the interior, he should be able to move to guard as well (although Collier has gotten some positive comments from the coaches so he might be a swing option as the backup guard.
- We talked to Charlie Partridge after practice, and it sounds like things are still pretty open along the defensive line, with tomorrow’s scrimmage looming large when it comes to setting the two-deep and rotations. Dayon Hayes and Nate Temple are still the top two ends, with Bam Brima and Nahki Johnson right behind them and Sam Okunlola and Jimmy Scott pushing those guys. I imagine we’ll see all six at some point.
- In the interior, Devin Danielson, David Green, Tyler Bentley and Deandre Jules are shaping up as the top four tackles. I think we assumed the top three and entered training camp looking to see who would emerge as the fourth guy. Jules has definitely done that, with Narduzzi, Partridge and Randy Bates all praising his performance in camp.
- That said, I still think it’s going to be tough to keep Sean FitzSimmons off the field. Last season, four defensive tackles played at least 247 snaps on defense, according to Pro Football Focus, but that included Calijah Kancey topping 450 (he played the ninth-most defensive snaps on the team). I imagine we’ll see more of a spread among the tackle snaps and FitzSimmons will end up north of 200. For comparison, Jules was fifth among the tackles last season with 144 snaps; I think FitzSimmons tops that.
- We’ll have photos, videos, interviews and more coming up later today.
- I spent a lot of time watching the quarterbacks and receivers working together, and we’ll have some video of those guys posted this afternoon. The biggest thing that stood out to me was the freshmen. Kenny Johnson, Lamar Seymore and Zion Fowler-El were working in the drill I watched, and they all looked really good.
None of those three is going to be the tallest receiver on the field, but they’ve got good enough size that it won’t be an issue. They’re also good athletes and they look fast, which seems like a good set of traits to have, and they all made good adjustments to the ball for some impressive catches.
Johnson has gotten the most press this camp, and for good reason; he’s the most likely freshman to see the field at receiver this season. But Fowler-El and Seymore both looked like they could contribute, at least in the drills I watched, and they’ve probably done enough in camp to earn playing time.
- Pat Narduzzi said on Friday morning that the freshman linebackers will be pushing for playing time as well, although he cautioned that the coaches didn’t want to waste anyone’s redshirts.
“Lovelace, for sure,” Narduzzi said, referencing Braylan Lovelace from Leechburg. Lovelace enrolled in January and finished spring camp as possibly the best-performing freshman in spring camp, which is pretty notable for a guy who came in rather unheralded.
Also notable is that Lovelace told us after practice on Friday that he has gained 25 pounds since he enrolled in January.l Having seen him in person last June and then standing next to him for his interview today, I can confirm that he has really bulked up. I think there’s a solid chance he ends up on the official two-deep, and I think it’s a lock that he’ll see the field. Special teams is almost a certainty, and I won’t be surprised to see him playing in the base defense.
- If I had to name names right now, I would say the top six linebackers - in no order - are Bangally Kamara, Shayne Simon, Solomon DeShields, Brandon George, Kyle Louis and Lovelace. That’s a really athletic group, and I think the ceiling is pretty high for those guys.
- Speaking of depth, I talked about the offensive line yesterday, and after watching those guys more today, I think these are probably the top backups at each position:
Right tackle - Terrence Enos
Right guard - BJ Williams
Center - Terrence Moore
Left guard - Jason Collier
Left tackle - Ryan Baer
I still think Baer is the swing player here. He can play either tackle spot, and if an injury happens in the interior, he should be able to move to guard as well (although Collier has gotten some positive comments from the coaches so he might be a swing option as the backup guard.
- We talked to Charlie Partridge after practice, and it sounds like things are still pretty open along the defensive line, with tomorrow’s scrimmage looming large when it comes to setting the two-deep and rotations. Dayon Hayes and Nate Temple are still the top two ends, with Bam Brima and Nahki Johnson right behind them and Sam Okunlola and Jimmy Scott pushing those guys. I imagine we’ll see all six at some point.
- In the interior, Devin Danielson, David Green, Tyler Bentley and Deandre Jules are shaping up as the top four tackles. I think we assumed the top three and entered training camp looking to see who would emerge as the fourth guy. Jules has definitely done that, with Narduzzi, Partridge and Randy Bates all praising his performance in camp.
- That said, I still think it’s going to be tough to keep Sean FitzSimmons off the field. Last season, four defensive tackles played at least 247 snaps on defense, according to Pro Football Focus, but that included Calijah Kancey topping 450 (he played the ninth-most defensive snaps on the team). I imagine we’ll see more of a spread among the tackle snaps and FitzSimmons will end up north of 200. For comparison, Jules was fifth among the tackles last season with 144 snaps; I think FitzSimmons tops that.
- We’ll have photos, videos, interviews and more coming up later today.
