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Linebacker Depth

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Sarge25

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Aug 18, 2017
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If the depth chart that Vuk posted on his site is accurate, I'm really scared about this position.

Zeise - lots of promise, but has not done a thing on the field yet. Good to see he's added some weight from last year. Hope he can stay healthy and play up to his potential.

Brightwell - only guy i'm really not worried about. I prefer him on the outside, but Wirginis being a knucklehead threw a wrench into that.

Idowu - good to see a kid work hard and earn a scholarship, but year 3 of Narduzzi should have a better OLB than this guy. Extremely dissapointed he's not been beaten out and relegated to special teamer.

Pine, McKee and Williams backing them up.

Williams I can't believe is still on the team.

Pine, I don't know how he doesn't get the starting gig over Idowu on the outside. Even if he's not ready, let him take 1st team reps and learn game 1.

McKee, I had high hopes for, hopefully he's finally healthy and the light went off.

Pugh is a guy I think should have stayed at LB and would have added MUCH needed talent and toughness to this unit.


ASAMOAH!!!! You reading this? Plenty of playing time to be had at Pitt at the LB position!!
 
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Sarge25 said:
If the depth chart that Vuk posted on his site is accurate, I'm really scared about this position.

Zeise - lots of promise, but has not done a thing on the field yet. Good to see he's added some weight from last year. Hope he can stay healthy and play up to his potential.

Brightwell - only guy i'm really not worried about. I prefer him on the outside, but Wirginis being a knucklehead threw a wrench into that.

Idowu - good to see a kid work hard and earn a scholarship, but year 3 of Narduzzi should have a better OLB than this guy. Extremely dissapointed he's not been beaten out and relegated to special teamer.

Pine, McKee and Williams backing them up.

Williams I can't believe is still on the team.

Pine, I don't know how he doesn't get the starting gig over Idowu on the outside. Even if he's not ready, let him take 1st team reps and learn game 1.

McKee, I had high hopes for, hopefully he's finally healthy and the light went off.

Pugh is a guy I think should have stayed at LB and would have added MUCH needed talent and toughness to this unit.


ASAMOAH!!!! You reading this? Plenty of playing time to be had at Pitt at the LB position!!
Click to expand...

I think Idowu is going to play well -- he's got a year of experience and has added some weight.
I'm worried about Brightwell holding up in the middle. He's listed as 6-foot and 220 pounds. Pretty slim for a MLB...

Go Pitt
 
Sarge25 said:
If the depth chart that Vuk posted on his site is accurate, I'm really scared about this position.

Zeise - lots of promise, but has not done a thing on the field yet. Good to see he's added some weight from last year. Hope he can stay healthy and play up to his potential.

Brightwell - only guy i'm really not worried about. I prefer him on the outside, but Wirginis being a knucklehead threw a wrench into that.

Idowu - good to see a kid work hard and earn a scholarship, but year 3 of Narduzzi should have a better OLB than this guy. Extremely dissapointed he's not been beaten out and relegated to special teamer.

Pine, McKee and Williams backing them up.

Williams I can't believe is still on the team.

Pine, I don't know how he doesn't get the starting gig over Idowu on the outside. Even if he's not ready, let him take 1st team reps and learn game 1.

McKee, I had high hopes for, hopefully he's finally healthy and the light went off.

Pugh is a guy I think should have stayed at LB and would have added MUCH needed talent and toughness to this unit.


ASAMOAH!!!! You reading this? Plenty of playing time to be had at Pitt at the LB position!!
Click to expand...
Start with this proposition whenever you're wondering why certain players are ahead of certain other players: it's all based on how well they are performing in practice. The best players play. Idowu has obviously outplayed his competition in the trained eyes of his coaches. .
 
Sarge25 said:
If the depth chart that Vuk posted on his site is accurate, I'm really scared about this position.

Zeise - lots of promise, but has not done a thing on the field yet. Good to see he's added some weight from last year. Hope he can stay healthy and play up to his potential.

Brightwell - only guy i'm really not worried about. I prefer him on the outside, but Wirginis being a knucklehead threw a wrench into that.

Idowu - good to see a kid work hard and earn a scholarship, but year 3 of Narduzzi should have a better OLB than this guy. Extremely dissapointed he's not been beaten out and relegated to special teamer.

Pine, McKee and Williams backing them up.

Williams I can't believe is still on the team.

Pine, I don't know how he doesn't get the starting gig over Idowu on the outside. Even if he's not ready, let him take 1st team reps and learn game 1.

McKee, I had high hopes for, hopefully he's finally healthy and the light went off.

Pugh is a guy I think should have stayed at LB and would have added MUCH needed talent and toughness to this unit.


ASAMOAH!!!! You reading this? Plenty of playing time to be had at Pitt at the LB position!!
Click to expand...
LB is just one of many positions in which we are banking on potential. Based on athletic ability LB has the potential to be better than it has been in quite a while. Be a little patient. It's year 3 of the Duzz and we are building ability and depth thru the whole roster. This takes a few years. And Pitt turns coaches over so often that we never seem to get there.
 
thebadby2 said:
Start with this proposition whenever you're wondering why certain players are ahead of certain other players: it's all based on how well they are performing in practice. The best players play. Idowu has obviously outplayed his competition in the trained eyes of his coaches. .
Click to expand...

That's nice. Starting week 1 only means so much. He won't be taking the majority of snaps come week 6, as he's not a good player. He's a feel good story who works hard.
 
I've said it many times already, LB is going to be a weak spot this year. Recruiting at this position needs to be MUCH better.
 
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I'm not worried about 3,5, or 10 years ago. I'm worried about this season, recruiting at LB needs to be better with the current staff.



DiehardPanther said:
When is the last time you would say it was good? I think this year will be about the same as last year.
Click to expand...
 
Sarge25 said:
If the depth chart that Vuk posted on his site is accurate, I'm really scared about this position.

Zeise - lots of promise, but has not done a thing on the field yet. Good to see he's added some weight from last year. Hope he can stay healthy and play up to his potential.

Brightwell - only guy i'm really not worried about. I prefer him on the outside, but Wirginis being a knucklehead threw a wrench into that.

Idowu - good to see a kid work hard and earn a scholarship, but year 3 of Narduzzi should have a better OLB than this guy. Extremely dissapointed he's not been beaten out and relegated to special teamer.

Pine, McKee and Williams backing them up.

Williams I can't believe is still on the team.

Pine, I don't know how he doesn't get the starting gig over Idowu on the outside. Even if he's not ready, let him take 1st team reps and learn game 1.

McKee, I had high hopes for, hopefully he's finally healthy and the light went off.

Pugh is a guy I think should have stayed at LB and would have added MUCH needed talent and toughness to this unit.


ASAMOAH!!!! You reading this? Plenty of playing time to be had at Pitt at the LB position!!
Click to expand...
Good linebackers are the key to every good defense.
Just look at the top 10 teams.
The last few years we had undersized LB's that were three steps to slow!
Hopefully some of these young guys show some speed and the natural ability to find the ball carrier in time to stop him from turning upfield. This skill will be key to stop Barkley and other good RB's.
Surprising that we didn't recruit better at this position!
 
I hate to bash an extremely high character Pitt Man...but as an ardent-fan, saying goodbye to starting linebackers Matt Galambos and Matt Caprara and replacing them with faster, more explosive athletes is already enough to get me excited for the 2017 Linebacking corp.

I mean -- Galambos and Carpara can't swim in deep water because their cement feet would drap them to the bottom :( ....

Idowu certainly last year played on-par with Terrish Webb at Free Safety and Ryan Lewis at corner --- In the, "There is literally no-one else right now" category. Idowu was such a non-factor he literally disappeared from games. Now he got jacked and he looks like a Super-Hero coming into 2017 so kudos on the work with Dave Andrews! --- But, many Pitt fans will remember Outside Linebacker Nicholas Grigsby a couple years ago in Duzz's first year? Came into his Senior year looking shredded and I was excited...then he just dropped a dud his whole Senior season. So I too hope Chase Pine / Anthony McKee / or another more powerful Narduzzi scholarship linebacker beats-out Idowu for his spot by the psu game. Hail to Pitt :)
 
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Sarge25 said:
If the depth chart that Vuk posted on his site is accurate, I'm really scared about this position.

Zeise - lots of promise, but has not done a thing on the field yet. Good to see he's added some weight from last year. Hope he can stay healthy and play up to his potential.

Brightwell - only guy i'm really not worried about. I prefer him on the outside, but Wirginis being a knucklehead threw a wrench into that.

Idowu - good to see a kid work hard and earn a scholarship, but year 3 of Narduzzi should have a better OLB than this guy. Extremely dissapointed he's not been beaten out and relegated to special teamer.

Pine, McKee and Williams backing them up.

Williams I can't believe is still on the team.

Pine, I don't know how he doesn't get the starting gig over Idowu on the outside. Even if he's not ready, let him take 1st team reps and learn game 1.

McKee, I had high hopes for, hopefully he's finally healthy and the light went off.

Pugh is a guy I think should have stayed at LB and would have added MUCH needed talent and toughness to this unit.


ASAMOAH!!!! You reading this? Plenty of playing time to be had at Pitt at the LB position!!
Click to expand...

Agree with a lot of what you've said. I really like Brightwell, but his size in the middle is a concern. I would have liked to see Pine (or Pugh) at MLB.

I also agree that it's very disappointing that all of Narduzzi's LB recruits can't beat out a smallish walk-on at OLB or a converted WR.

Cruzer
 
Sarge25 said:
That's nice. Starting week 1 only means so much. He won't be taking the majority of snaps come week 6, as he's not a good player. He's a feel good story who works hard.
Click to expand...
That statement shows a lot of ignorance as to the way things work in a college football program. The best players as determined by every day performance will play. If someone takes Idowu's spot, it's because that player is outperforming him day to day.

Football is the ultimate meritocracy. Nobody's going to give you anything because of your recruiting ranking or your 40 time. You have to compete and earn it.
 
cruzer said:
Agree with a lot of what you've said. I really like Brightwell, but his size in the middle is a concern. I would have liked to see Pine (or Pugh) at MLB.

I also agree that it's very disappointing that all of Narduzzi's LB recruits can't beat out a smallish walk-on at OLB or a converted WR.

Cruzer
Click to expand...
Maybe it's a case of the size of the fight in the dog. Maybe it's understanding assignment football.
 
Keep in mind, this is year 3. All of this players have had a chance to learn the ins, outs, and responsibilities of this defense. This should be a leap year for the defense. The defense will have to hold down the fort until the offense can catch up...
 
Saboteur said:
Maybe it's a case of the size of the fight in the dog. Maybe it's understanding assignment football.
Click to expand...
Its a bit troubling that an undersized walk on LB is in the mix for a starting spot, when the LB has been a weak link on the D for years, and Narduzzi has had three years to fix the problem.
The suspended loser LB Wiggins doesn't help the situation but even with him its a weak link and we all know the chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
 
cruzer said:
Agree with a lot of what you've said. I really like Brightwell, but his size in the middle is a concern. I would have liked to see Pine (or Pugh) at MLB.

I also agree that it's very disappointing that all of Narduzzi's LB recruits can't beat out a smallish walk-on at OLB or a converted WR.

Cruzer
Click to expand...

I think by the time the ACC games start, Wirginis will start in the middle and Brightwell on the outside ..... if that is the case, we'll have at least two pretty decent (maybe even pretty good) LB's starting by then and we will have to decide who the 3rd starter is and build some depth on top of that ..... the LB's potentially could be better this year then last, we'll see..... of course, we have to improvise some until Wirginis gets back.
 
goalieman said:
I think by the time the ACC games start, Wirginis will start in the middle and Brightwell on the outside ..... if that is the case, we'll have at least two pretty decent (maybe even pretty good) LB's starting by then and we will have to decide who the 3rd starter is and build some depth on top of that ..... the LB's potentially could be better this year then last, we'll see.
Click to expand...

The LB positions are key to putting a good defense together! You don't learn or get good at that position overnight

Great so while we're shuffling cards our early opponents seem set and we could miss two huge opportunities to knock off two highly ranked teams the NItters and OSU.

We should have the right personnel on deck ready to go at opening kickoff.
But inadequate recruiting at the LB spot and players who don't understand what it means to play on a team, or be a team player which puts us in the shuffling cards mode.
 
I remain highly concerned about the LB position. Given the background and pedigree of the 2 guys penciled in at starting OLB, you have to be a little circumspect. This is a positon where recruiting has recently improved but the talent is very young.
 
BuffetParrothead said:
The LB positions are key to putting a good defense together! You don't learn or get good at that position overnight

Great so while we're shuffling cards our early opponents seem set and we could miss two huge opportunities to knock off two highly ranked teams the NItters and OSU.

We should have the right personnel on deck ready to go at opening kickoff.
But inadequate recruiting at the LB spot and players who don't understand what it means to play on a team, or be a team player which puts us in the shuffling cards mode.
Click to expand...

I agree with what you say ..... but when Wirginis gets back, I think he and Brightwell will give us two pretty good LB's and there is potential in Idowu and Zeise ..... none of those 4 are freshman or RS freshman, they have all been around a good while so they should be ready to go...... hopefully some of the younger players will start to step up also .... obviously I have concern about the LB position but think when we are at full strength this year, we could be better then last year at that position, just not sure yet how good that will be .... should be interesting to see what transpires.

I do agree that we need to improve the recruiting at the LB position.
 
BuffetParrothead said:
Its a bit troubling that an undersized walk on LB is in the mix for a starting spot, when the LB has been a weak link on the D for years, and Narduzzi has had three years to fix the problem.
The suspended loser LB Wiggins doesn't help the situation but even with him its a weak link and we all know the chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Click to expand...
It's constant frustration for this position as a Pitt supporter. In the city known for great LB on the pro side, it's consistently the weakest position for us.

The last pure LB to get remotely excited about was Dan Mason, who (speaking of curses) may actually HAVE been cursed.

Even when recruits are secured that provide legit hope (Pugh for example), something goes awry. Now he's lumped and buried among linemen, where you hear absolutely nothing about him. Did he simply eat his way out of the position? And Pine, another hope, seems MIA from contention.

And sorry, I don't buy some of the other assertions here that a LB needs years and years and years to show his worth...with the great ones, as with most TB and WR, you almost always see sparks quickly...they force their way into the lineup. Mason once again is my example. Even for a coach who was loathe to use freshmen, he played a ton right away. Which is why I don't lament missing Wirginis. He got in once or twice the last couple years, but it's telling he could never unseat Galambos, who was a hard worker, but that's about it.

One exception there is in pass coverage, which is more important for a LB in this era and tougher to pick up (to connect dots, Dan Mason was weak in this area). I think that could be why guys who seem like naturals to be getting PT might be struggling. An Idowu or Zeise might have better coverage abilities. But seem woeful as classic LB.

Brightwell shows hope so I'll try to remain optimistic. But no matter how it's sliced, 3 years in with a "defensive guru", still having to resort to converted running backs or receivers (who never have the ideal homicidal instinct) is a disappointment.
 
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I LOVE narduzzi, but has the LB recruiting really improved under him?

Wendell Davis
Kyle Nunn, Cam Bright, Albert Tucker
Chase Pine, Elias Reynolds, Kaezon Pugh
Anthony McKee, Saleem Brightwell

Are any of those guys players where you are saying, man, I can't wait till he gets in at LB, he's really gonna turn the position around. Brightwell and McKee came with stars, but their size concerned most posters.

Let's be honest, Pugh was the LB that was next in the mold to be a game changer and they decided to bulk him up to become a 6'1" rush end. Pine is literally the only one I think has a high ceiling in the pipeline. Narduzzi HAS to land Asamoah.
 
I wonder if the same idiotic posters would have been asking why a skinny LB who did not get any offers is starting at MLB, or why some no name, undersized DE from Mississippi is starting at DE. We could bring it to the current team, and some of u were complaining about a walk on being named a starter at FB.
 
I read in either the Trib or the other newspaper (rag) within the last week an article about the top 5-6 LBs in the Pittsburgh market for the upcoming season.

They offers for these TOP LBs were Robert Morris, Duquesne, Akron, etc. We have no local high school LBs worthy of a P5 scholarship.
 
The future, on paper at least, is disappointing. We brought in 3 lb recruits who I don't even think actually played linebacker in high school. One was a backup DB in high school.

To say the next batch of LBs are going to need some time to transition is an under statement. Saying that we need McKee and pine to not be busts is an even bigger under statement.
 
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None of you have seen any of the Lbs play other than Brightwell and Idou (sp). How in the world can any of you make some of these crazy statements? None of us have seen a practice or a scrimage. These comments are all being said because we havent heard them say something. Some of you just like to see yourself type. Your comments are made from no proof whatsoever. Lets wait and see what the guys look like first. All this crap was said about Ashton an d a few others and now the comments are we are screwed without him. Give it a break.
 
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With 4 new starters on the DL-and yes I'm including Edwards and his 3 starts in that statement--inexperienced depth, and Hendrix still not 100%?

There's optimism, and then there's posts like this.
 
ebonylover40 said:
None of you have seen any of the Lbs play other than Brightwell and Idou (sp). How in the world can any of you make some of these crazy statements? None of us have seen a practice or a scrimage. These comments are all being said because we havent heard them say something. Some of you just like to see yourself type. Your comments are made from no proof whatsoever. Lets wait and see what the guys look like first. All this crap was said about Ashton an d a few others and now the comments are we are screwed without him. Give it a break.
Click to expand...
I think what you're saying is there's a lot of cluelessness on this board.

That may be a bit of an understatement.
 
Sarge25 said:
If the depth chart that Vuk posted on his site is accurate, I'm really scared about this position.

Zeise - lots of promise, but has not done a thing on the field yet. Good to see he's added some weight from last year. Hope he can stay healthy and play up to his potential.

Brightwell - only guy i'm really not worried about. I prefer him on the outside, but Wirginis being a knucklehead threw a wrench into that.

Idowu - good to see a kid work hard and earn a scholarship, but year 3 of Narduzzi should have a better OLB than this guy. Extremely dissapointed he's not been beaten out and relegated to special teamer.

Pine, McKee and Williams backing them up.

Williams I can't believe is still on the team.

Pine, I don't know how he doesn't get the starting gig over Idowu on the outside. Even if he's not ready, let him take 1st team reps and learn game 1.

McKee, I had high hopes for, hopefully he's finally healthy and the light went off.

Pugh is a guy I think should have stayed at LB and would have added MUCH needed talent and toughness to this unit.


ASAMOAH!!!! You reading this? Plenty of playing time to be had at Pitt at the LB position!!
Click to expand...
. I don't know that Pine will play on outside
 
Cap pitt said:
. I don't know that Pine will play on outside
Click to expand...
Pine and brightwell are both outside linebackers. Pine is perfect for the money spot. Problem is we have done so poorly in getting a decent MLB in last few classes that we have had to put round pegs in square holes.

I'm worried Brightwell is not a P5 MLB. He could have been a very good olb but we have no one else to play in middle.
 
Last edited:
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A MLB trying to play on the outside is a stretch but a OLB gaining more weight and playing on the inside seems reasonable. I can see Pine as a MLB but not this year. He needs more time.

Swervin27 said:
Pine and brightwell are both outside linebackers. Pine is perfect for the money spot. Problem is we have done so poorly in getting a decent MLB in last few classes that we have had to put round pegs in square holes.

I'm worried Brightwell is not a P5 MLB. He could have been a very good olb but we have no one else to play in middle.
Click to expand...
 
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