Pitt went light on the day before its final big scrimmage of training camp 2018, wearing shorts and shells for Friday’s workout. Here’s what stood out in the morning session.
- The day’s biggest news came out before the media viewing window even started Friday morning, as head coach Pat Narduzzi announced that receiver Taysir Mack, who joined the team as a transfer from Indiana this offseason, will be eligible to play in 2018.
That’s significant news, to say the least. Coming out of spring camp, Mack was pretty clearly at or near the top of the list when it came to Pitt’s receivers; it probably wouldn’t have been a stretch to say he was the best receiver the Panthers had, at least in terms of spring camp performance (a limited sample size made even smaller by the number of receivers who were injured at the time).
It also wasn’t a stretch to say that the chances of Mack being eligible to play in 2018 were slim to none. People I talked to at the end of spring camp felt like the likelihood was approaching zero. But as spring turned to summer, the tide seemed to shift in the NCAA’s approach to waivers, as well as the governing body’s willingness to grant those waivers.
And as that tide shifted, Pitt’s optimism for Mack seems to have grown. On Thursday, the efforts spearheaded by associate athletic director for compliance Dustin Gray and associate athletic director for football administration Chris LaSala were rewarded when the NCAA granted Mack immediate eligibility.
- To say this is a big development for Pitt might be an understatement. The consensus on Pitt’s question marks heading into the 2018 season centered on two areas: receiver and offensive line. The latter remains a question mark, but the former seems to be reaching some clarity.
The growth of Shocky Jacques-Louis in training camp has been a big piece of the puzzle. By all accounts, the hype has been real for Jacques-Louis as he has seemed to provide a playmaking boost in the passing game, combing speed and athleticism to add an element of explosiveness.
Dontavius Butler-Jenkins has made a similar impact. He may not be the explosive athlete that Jacques-Louis is, but he can be a tough possession receiver who will do his part in the run game in addition to catching passes.
On Friday, receiver coach Kevin Sherman also name-dropped redshirt freshman Michael Smith, who hadn’t been mentioned much but has, according to Sherman, been stepping up this week.
Then there are the upperclassmen, the guys like Rafael Araujo-Lopes and Maurice Ffrench and Tre Tipton and Aaron Mathews, and on that matter, I think Pitt is in a win-win: either those players will respond to the impact plays that Jacques-Louis and Butler-Jenkins and Smith are making or they’ll get passed over.
Now throw Mack into the equation, and suddenly Pitt has a receiving corps that has a marginal level of experience but a considerable amount of potential. The receivers are still a question mark because the group hasn’t collectively produced much. But there is more reason for optimism now than there was 24 hours ago.
- We’ll have to see how Mack fits into the rotation at receiver; he wasn’t on the field for the early portion of practice on Friday since he was apparently still finishing some paperwork. During the short walk-through they do in front of us, the offense worked in a two-receiver set with Araujo-Lopes and Butler-Jenkins.
- Ultimately, they’re going to try to use a healthy rotation of receivers this season. Sherman - as well as other members of the staff - has favored the term “posse” in camp, and I think that will be mean a steady roll of at least six receivers, if not seven or more. I mean, just the guys we’ve mentioned in this write-up so far - Araujo-Lopes, Jacques-Louis, Mathews, Mack, Ffrench, Tipton, Butler-Jenkins, Smith - that’s eight right there. Can they go eight-deep at receiver? They might have the horses to do it, but will there be enough snaps to make it worthwhile, particularly on a team that’s going to place a high priority on establishing the run?
I think they tried to go that deep - or close to it - last season. Five wide receivers caught passes last season (Jester Weah, Quadree Henderson, Araujo-Lopes, Ffrench and Mathews) and one more (Ruben Flowers) had passes thrown to him. That’s six that they tried to work in, plus Tipton and Butler-Jenkins, who was working toward playing time as a freshman, were out with injuries; so the potential existed for as many as eight.
Will eight receivers be used this season? That remains to be seen. But there’s certainly a lot of intrigue in the group.
- As for that other question mark - the offensive line - things seem to still be sticking with the status quo, at least during early-practice walk-throughs. The coaches certainly rotate linemen through practice, which makes sense because you want different players being comfortable playing next to each other. But on the whole, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that we’ll be seeing the Millin-Dintino-Morrissey-Herndon-Bookser line on Sept. 1.
- Finally, on the defense, the depth we’ve been talking about since the offseason continues to seem like a strength. They’re at a point right now where they can absorb an injury at a position like linebacker and insert a player with a fair amount of experience.
Of course, that only goes to a certain point, and if there are more than one or two injuries, you’re going to start getting into guys with limited experience and more uncertainty. But right now the experience of the returning players and the versatility of guys like Elijah Zeise and Saleem Brightwell, who can play both outside positions (plus middle, in the case of Brightwell), helps give linebackers coach Rob Harley some stability.
Every position has its breaking point as far as depth goes, but I would say all three levels of the defense can sustain an absence or two and not have too much of a fall-off. Defensive end, where they are currently two-deep, is the closest thing to an exception, but the move of Chase Pine from linebacker to end and the promising play of freshman John Morgan will help there.
- Pitt will hold its final scrimmage of camp on Saturday and practice again on Sunday before having an off day Monday. Both weekend practices are closed to the media, so we won’t be back in the South Side until Tuesday. We’ll have plenty of articles, videos, photos and more in the meantime.
Next week, Pitt will practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before breaking camp leading into the first in-season game week of 2018.
- The day’s biggest news came out before the media viewing window even started Friday morning, as head coach Pat Narduzzi announced that receiver Taysir Mack, who joined the team as a transfer from Indiana this offseason, will be eligible to play in 2018.
That’s significant news, to say the least. Coming out of spring camp, Mack was pretty clearly at or near the top of the list when it came to Pitt’s receivers; it probably wouldn’t have been a stretch to say he was the best receiver the Panthers had, at least in terms of spring camp performance (a limited sample size made even smaller by the number of receivers who were injured at the time).
It also wasn’t a stretch to say that the chances of Mack being eligible to play in 2018 were slim to none. People I talked to at the end of spring camp felt like the likelihood was approaching zero. But as spring turned to summer, the tide seemed to shift in the NCAA’s approach to waivers, as well as the governing body’s willingness to grant those waivers.
And as that tide shifted, Pitt’s optimism for Mack seems to have grown. On Thursday, the efforts spearheaded by associate athletic director for compliance Dustin Gray and associate athletic director for football administration Chris LaSala were rewarded when the NCAA granted Mack immediate eligibility.
- To say this is a big development for Pitt might be an understatement. The consensus on Pitt’s question marks heading into the 2018 season centered on two areas: receiver and offensive line. The latter remains a question mark, but the former seems to be reaching some clarity.
The growth of Shocky Jacques-Louis in training camp has been a big piece of the puzzle. By all accounts, the hype has been real for Jacques-Louis as he has seemed to provide a playmaking boost in the passing game, combing speed and athleticism to add an element of explosiveness.
Dontavius Butler-Jenkins has made a similar impact. He may not be the explosive athlete that Jacques-Louis is, but he can be a tough possession receiver who will do his part in the run game in addition to catching passes.
On Friday, receiver coach Kevin Sherman also name-dropped redshirt freshman Michael Smith, who hadn’t been mentioned much but has, according to Sherman, been stepping up this week.
Then there are the upperclassmen, the guys like Rafael Araujo-Lopes and Maurice Ffrench and Tre Tipton and Aaron Mathews, and on that matter, I think Pitt is in a win-win: either those players will respond to the impact plays that Jacques-Louis and Butler-Jenkins and Smith are making or they’ll get passed over.
Now throw Mack into the equation, and suddenly Pitt has a receiving corps that has a marginal level of experience but a considerable amount of potential. The receivers are still a question mark because the group hasn’t collectively produced much. But there is more reason for optimism now than there was 24 hours ago.
- We’ll have to see how Mack fits into the rotation at receiver; he wasn’t on the field for the early portion of practice on Friday since he was apparently still finishing some paperwork. During the short walk-through they do in front of us, the offense worked in a two-receiver set with Araujo-Lopes and Butler-Jenkins.
- Ultimately, they’re going to try to use a healthy rotation of receivers this season. Sherman - as well as other members of the staff - has favored the term “posse” in camp, and I think that will be mean a steady roll of at least six receivers, if not seven or more. I mean, just the guys we’ve mentioned in this write-up so far - Araujo-Lopes, Jacques-Louis, Mathews, Mack, Ffrench, Tipton, Butler-Jenkins, Smith - that’s eight right there. Can they go eight-deep at receiver? They might have the horses to do it, but will there be enough snaps to make it worthwhile, particularly on a team that’s going to place a high priority on establishing the run?
I think they tried to go that deep - or close to it - last season. Five wide receivers caught passes last season (Jester Weah, Quadree Henderson, Araujo-Lopes, Ffrench and Mathews) and one more (Ruben Flowers) had passes thrown to him. That’s six that they tried to work in, plus Tipton and Butler-Jenkins, who was working toward playing time as a freshman, were out with injuries; so the potential existed for as many as eight.
Will eight receivers be used this season? That remains to be seen. But there’s certainly a lot of intrigue in the group.
- As for that other question mark - the offensive line - things seem to still be sticking with the status quo, at least during early-practice walk-throughs. The coaches certainly rotate linemen through practice, which makes sense because you want different players being comfortable playing next to each other. But on the whole, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that we’ll be seeing the Millin-Dintino-Morrissey-Herndon-Bookser line on Sept. 1.
- Finally, on the defense, the depth we’ve been talking about since the offseason continues to seem like a strength. They’re at a point right now where they can absorb an injury at a position like linebacker and insert a player with a fair amount of experience.
Of course, that only goes to a certain point, and if there are more than one or two injuries, you’re going to start getting into guys with limited experience and more uncertainty. But right now the experience of the returning players and the versatility of guys like Elijah Zeise and Saleem Brightwell, who can play both outside positions (plus middle, in the case of Brightwell), helps give linebackers coach Rob Harley some stability.
Every position has its breaking point as far as depth goes, but I would say all three levels of the defense can sustain an absence or two and not have too much of a fall-off. Defensive end, where they are currently two-deep, is the closest thing to an exception, but the move of Chase Pine from linebacker to end and the promising play of freshman John Morgan will help there.
- Pitt will hold its final scrimmage of camp on Saturday and practice again on Sunday before having an off day Monday. Both weekend practices are closed to the media, so we won’t be back in the South Side until Tuesday. We’ll have plenty of articles, videos, photos and more in the meantime.
Next week, Pitt will practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before breaking camp leading into the first in-season game week of 2018.
