Pitt's D sucked these past two years because PN had so little talent to work with on that side of the ball. So, positions were filled this past year by moving a DE to DT as a senior, where competition was so weak, he easily won the starting spot. Lewis, a guy who'd played sparingly in his first four years, won the starting CB spot as a fifth year senior almost by default, because again, the competition was so weak or too young and inexperienced.
But now, with PN's first recruiting class growing out their redshirt year, we are going to have real position battles for the first, and second teams, and there is enough young talent starting to come of age (just barely), that some talented players will not win starting positions, or even make it onto the 2-deep. This hasn't happened on our defense in...well, forever.
And while we can all guess how these battles may turn out, we really don't know. And THAT...is a good thing. For example:
At CB, most will pencil Hamlin in opposite Maddox. But Miller or Coleman could grab either one of those positions. Those guys are big, strong and talented. And you can't count out Jackson either, who is pretty athletic, and who now has some experience.
At DT, four new guys --Watts, Camp, Wheeler and Cam Carter, will be battling for position against each other, and against upperclassmen who have the edge in experience, but not in raw talent.
At safety, Ford is a stud. In years past, the lack of real talent would've meant that he'd be handed the job as a freshman, ala Whitehead his freshman year. But there are several young and talented safeties competing as well, and that is allowing the coaching staff to consider playing Ford in a different role. That option wouldn't have existed before, because Ford would've been so desperately needed at safety. (He would've been a huge help this year.)
By the way, stars and offers won't help these guys now. What they've been and will continue to show the coaches on the field and in the film room will determine who end's up where on the depth chart. They all have talent, size and speed.
The position battles will be real, and should be fun to watch, and I fully expect there to be some surprising results. Can't wait.
But now, with PN's first recruiting class growing out their redshirt year, we are going to have real position battles for the first, and second teams, and there is enough young talent starting to come of age (just barely), that some talented players will not win starting positions, or even make it onto the 2-deep. This hasn't happened on our defense in...well, forever.
And while we can all guess how these battles may turn out, we really don't know. And THAT...is a good thing. For example:
At CB, most will pencil Hamlin in opposite Maddox. But Miller or Coleman could grab either one of those positions. Those guys are big, strong and talented. And you can't count out Jackson either, who is pretty athletic, and who now has some experience.
At DT, four new guys --Watts, Camp, Wheeler and Cam Carter, will be battling for position against each other, and against upperclassmen who have the edge in experience, but not in raw talent.
At safety, Ford is a stud. In years past, the lack of real talent would've meant that he'd be handed the job as a freshman, ala Whitehead his freshman year. But there are several young and talented safeties competing as well, and that is allowing the coaching staff to consider playing Ford in a different role. That option wouldn't have existed before, because Ford would've been so desperately needed at safety. (He would've been a huge help this year.)
By the way, stars and offers won't help these guys now. What they've been and will continue to show the coaches on the field and in the film room will determine who end's up where on the depth chart. They all have talent, size and speed.
The position battles will be real, and should be fun to watch, and I fully expect there to be some surprising results. Can't wait.
