As I said in my pre-season summary and my QB mid-year review post, I’m using a 4 letter grade scale to measure each position group against the rest of the ACC. An “A” grade means the position group is one of the top 3 in the ACC, a “B” means the group is between 4th and 6th, a “C” means the position group is between 7th and 10th, and a D means the group is one the 4 worst in the ACC, 11th through 14th.
RB. 2019 Pre-Season Projection B. Mid-Year Grade: D.
PRE-SEASON PROJECTION: After failing to break 1,800 rushing yards in 2017, Pitt rushed for just shy of 3,200 yards last season with two 1,000 yard rushers for the first time in school history. Hall and Ollison are gone, but there is still plenty of talent. Jr. AJ Davis is a former R250 (#247) 4 star Under Armor All American with 25 P5 offers. He played as a true freshmen and sophomore, despite the high quality depth ahead of him. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry last season in limited touches. At 4.2 YPC and a modest 20 touches a game, he should break 1,000 in the regular season. RS. So. Todd Sibley is another former Under Armor All American and former OSU commit, who is reportedly the fastest offensive player on the team, despite being 220 lbs. Injuries and depth have kept him from seeing the field, but he appears to finally be healthy.
RS. Fr. Mychale Salahuddin is a former 5.9 4 Star R250 (#127) recruit with elite offers who was injured late last season and required off-season surgery. It appears that he’s ready to go, and everyone who has seen him practice says he’s special with the ball. Despite losing Hall and Ollison to graduation, there is more than enough talent to run the ball effectively. Pitt won’t top 3,000 rushing yards again, but something around 190 yards a game (2,280) isn’t too far-fetched, hopefully while preserving the redshirt of Daniel Carter and Vincent Davis.
MID-YEAR REVIEW: We knew there would be a drop off, but no one thought it would be this bad. The RBs have been an unmitigated disaster on the ground, to be honest. Things started off with Salahuddin leaving the team late in camp, but if he couldn’t beat out this group, he will never play FBS football. Sibley seems to have been injured for a few games, and AJ Davis and Vincent Davis have both missed a game for injury too. Depending on where you look, Pitt has a total of 699 rushing yards (116.5 YPG) on the season, including Pickett’s and Patti’s scrambles and sacks. Our rushing drops to 617 rushing yards when you remove Pickett and Patti. We have 4 total rushing touchdowns. Those numbers are pathetic.
A good portion of the rushing failure rests on the OL, but AJ Davis, Todd Sibley, V’Lique Carter, and Vincent Davis are not getting it done. It is concerning that we haven’t seen Daniel Carter, I’m worried about anyone who can’t earn snaps against this group. I know he’s a true freshmen, I’m not writing him off, I’m just saying it’s concerning. On the other hand, we’ve only intentionally run the ball 153 times in 6 games (25.5 times a game), and Pickett actually has the third most rushing attempts with 41 behind Sibley with 44 and AJ Davis with 42. If we assume the QB rushes were called passing plays, that’s a 153:305 run-pass ratio. That’s unworkable long term, but it reflects the reality that our RBs and OL are simply awful at running the ball. AJ Davis does have 179 receiving yards to go along with his 184 yards on the ground good for 363 yards total and 3rd on the team. Barring a dramatic improvement, this group is all but certain to finish in the bottom 4 of the ACC earning a “D” grade.
WR. 2019 Pre-Season Projection: B. Mid-Year Grade: B.
PRE-SEASON PROJECTION: 6 of our top 7 WRs are back, and while they were not targeted very often last year, they were productive when they were. Arujo-Lopes is the only WR not back. Maurice French scored 10 total TDs last year, 6 through the air and 2 each on the ground and in the return game. French only had 35 catches, but turned it into 515 yards (14.7 average). He also gained 164 yards on the ground via sweeps. 679 offensive yards and 8 TDs isn’t bad production, all things considered. Taysir Mack, like French, wasn’t targeted often, but he was very productive with his 25 catches netting 557 yards (22.3 average, one of the best in the FBS) and 1 touchdown. Watson apparently wanted Pickett to work up the field from shortest to longest routes (WHICH IS INSANE), so we should expect Mack to be targeted significantly more this season. The most likely third starter (Whipple’s base is 11 personnel – 3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 RB, 1 QB, and 5 OL) is 6’4” Sr. Aaron Mathews, an elite blocker with sure hands who knows how to use his size, although he lacks elite speed.
V’Lique Carter is a Swiss-army knife with elite quickness, who broke out against Duke for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns as a true freshmen. He’ll be used on sweeps, screens, and other space-oriented plays this year. He could be listed as either a HB or WR, but he’ll probably won’t line up like a normal RB. It’s hard to project how effective he’ll be, but if he’s used properly and displays good hands, he could be a nightmare for defenses. RS. Sr. Tre Tipton, unable to stay healthy, but a strong route runner; So. Shocky Jacques-Louis, elite quickness and speed; and RS. So. Dontavius Butler-Jenkins, sure hands; should also factor in, but it’s hard to know how much these three will contribute.
MID-YEAR REVIEW: Despite good total yardage, this group has been inconsistent and needs to score more points. In fact, this WR group has among the fewest receiving TDs in the ACC through week 6 with only 7 TDs. Taysir Mack leads all players with 511 yards and 2 touchdowns on 41 targets through 6 games (2nd in yards to a Wake WR, 2nd in receptions to FFrench in the ACC). Mack already has 16 more catches and 1 more touchdown than he did all of last year and he is 46 yards away from matching his yardage total too. He’s had some big drops, but he’s also made some spectacular catches. If Pickett isn’t the best offensive player, it’s Mack. We need to see more TD production from him, but he’s on pace for 1,000 regular season receiving yards on 80 targets. That’s very good production, despite the TD deficit.
Maurice FFrench is second in yardage with 396 receiving yards and 2 TDs on 50 receptions (7th in yards, 1st in receptions – after FFrench and Mack the 3rd most receptions is a Wake WR with 34). Despite strong total yardage production, FFrench’s play has been decidedly mixed. He’s made some great athletic plays, but he’s dropped the ball and made some unwise decisions after the catch (to say nothing of his very poor work as a returner). Like Mack, FFrench needs to find a way to get in the end zone, especially if he’s going to keep getting the ball so much.
Honestly, I’d like to see FFrench’s target share decline from about 10 a game to 6 or 7. Specifically, I’d like to see Aaron Matthews (8 catches for 113 yards, 14.1 YPC) and Dontavius Butler-Jenkins (6 for 65 and a 1 TD, 10.8 YPC) get some of those targets. Both are averaging a lot more yards per catch than FFrench (7.9 YPC) and I suspect each of them, especially Matthews, would do more with those 3 or 4 targets. If Shocky (2 for 26 receiving and 3 for 29 on the ground) is finally healthy, I’d like to see him get some chances too. In the Duke game, true freshmen Jared Wayne also had a nice catch for 17 yards in his first action. He should be headed for a redshirt, but like DBJ, Wayne passes the eye test.
Overall, this is a borderline “B” top 6 WR group in the ACC, despite having WRs with the 2nd and 7th most yards because this entire group only has 7 receiving touchdowns on over on over 120 WR receptions. This group needs to start making more plays and finding the end zone. In 5 games, Pickett has 35 more passing attempts than the next highest QB. These WRs need to do more with those opportunities.
RB. 2019 Pre-Season Projection B. Mid-Year Grade: D.
PRE-SEASON PROJECTION: After failing to break 1,800 rushing yards in 2017, Pitt rushed for just shy of 3,200 yards last season with two 1,000 yard rushers for the first time in school history. Hall and Ollison are gone, but there is still plenty of talent. Jr. AJ Davis is a former R250 (#247) 4 star Under Armor All American with 25 P5 offers. He played as a true freshmen and sophomore, despite the high quality depth ahead of him. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry last season in limited touches. At 4.2 YPC and a modest 20 touches a game, he should break 1,000 in the regular season. RS. So. Todd Sibley is another former Under Armor All American and former OSU commit, who is reportedly the fastest offensive player on the team, despite being 220 lbs. Injuries and depth have kept him from seeing the field, but he appears to finally be healthy.
RS. Fr. Mychale Salahuddin is a former 5.9 4 Star R250 (#127) recruit with elite offers who was injured late last season and required off-season surgery. It appears that he’s ready to go, and everyone who has seen him practice says he’s special with the ball. Despite losing Hall and Ollison to graduation, there is more than enough talent to run the ball effectively. Pitt won’t top 3,000 rushing yards again, but something around 190 yards a game (2,280) isn’t too far-fetched, hopefully while preserving the redshirt of Daniel Carter and Vincent Davis.
MID-YEAR REVIEW: We knew there would be a drop off, but no one thought it would be this bad. The RBs have been an unmitigated disaster on the ground, to be honest. Things started off with Salahuddin leaving the team late in camp, but if he couldn’t beat out this group, he will never play FBS football. Sibley seems to have been injured for a few games, and AJ Davis and Vincent Davis have both missed a game for injury too. Depending on where you look, Pitt has a total of 699 rushing yards (116.5 YPG) on the season, including Pickett’s and Patti’s scrambles and sacks. Our rushing drops to 617 rushing yards when you remove Pickett and Patti. We have 4 total rushing touchdowns. Those numbers are pathetic.
A good portion of the rushing failure rests on the OL, but AJ Davis, Todd Sibley, V’Lique Carter, and Vincent Davis are not getting it done. It is concerning that we haven’t seen Daniel Carter, I’m worried about anyone who can’t earn snaps against this group. I know he’s a true freshmen, I’m not writing him off, I’m just saying it’s concerning. On the other hand, we’ve only intentionally run the ball 153 times in 6 games (25.5 times a game), and Pickett actually has the third most rushing attempts with 41 behind Sibley with 44 and AJ Davis with 42. If we assume the QB rushes were called passing plays, that’s a 153:305 run-pass ratio. That’s unworkable long term, but it reflects the reality that our RBs and OL are simply awful at running the ball. AJ Davis does have 179 receiving yards to go along with his 184 yards on the ground good for 363 yards total and 3rd on the team. Barring a dramatic improvement, this group is all but certain to finish in the bottom 4 of the ACC earning a “D” grade.
WR. 2019 Pre-Season Projection: B. Mid-Year Grade: B.
PRE-SEASON PROJECTION: 6 of our top 7 WRs are back, and while they were not targeted very often last year, they were productive when they were. Arujo-Lopes is the only WR not back. Maurice French scored 10 total TDs last year, 6 through the air and 2 each on the ground and in the return game. French only had 35 catches, but turned it into 515 yards (14.7 average). He also gained 164 yards on the ground via sweeps. 679 offensive yards and 8 TDs isn’t bad production, all things considered. Taysir Mack, like French, wasn’t targeted often, but he was very productive with his 25 catches netting 557 yards (22.3 average, one of the best in the FBS) and 1 touchdown. Watson apparently wanted Pickett to work up the field from shortest to longest routes (WHICH IS INSANE), so we should expect Mack to be targeted significantly more this season. The most likely third starter (Whipple’s base is 11 personnel – 3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 RB, 1 QB, and 5 OL) is 6’4” Sr. Aaron Mathews, an elite blocker with sure hands who knows how to use his size, although he lacks elite speed.
V’Lique Carter is a Swiss-army knife with elite quickness, who broke out against Duke for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns as a true freshmen. He’ll be used on sweeps, screens, and other space-oriented plays this year. He could be listed as either a HB or WR, but he’ll probably won’t line up like a normal RB. It’s hard to project how effective he’ll be, but if he’s used properly and displays good hands, he could be a nightmare for defenses. RS. Sr. Tre Tipton, unable to stay healthy, but a strong route runner; So. Shocky Jacques-Louis, elite quickness and speed; and RS. So. Dontavius Butler-Jenkins, sure hands; should also factor in, but it’s hard to know how much these three will contribute.
MID-YEAR REVIEW: Despite good total yardage, this group has been inconsistent and needs to score more points. In fact, this WR group has among the fewest receiving TDs in the ACC through week 6 with only 7 TDs. Taysir Mack leads all players with 511 yards and 2 touchdowns on 41 targets through 6 games (2nd in yards to a Wake WR, 2nd in receptions to FFrench in the ACC). Mack already has 16 more catches and 1 more touchdown than he did all of last year and he is 46 yards away from matching his yardage total too. He’s had some big drops, but he’s also made some spectacular catches. If Pickett isn’t the best offensive player, it’s Mack. We need to see more TD production from him, but he’s on pace for 1,000 regular season receiving yards on 80 targets. That’s very good production, despite the TD deficit.
Maurice FFrench is second in yardage with 396 receiving yards and 2 TDs on 50 receptions (7th in yards, 1st in receptions – after FFrench and Mack the 3rd most receptions is a Wake WR with 34). Despite strong total yardage production, FFrench’s play has been decidedly mixed. He’s made some great athletic plays, but he’s dropped the ball and made some unwise decisions after the catch (to say nothing of his very poor work as a returner). Like Mack, FFrench needs to find a way to get in the end zone, especially if he’s going to keep getting the ball so much.
Honestly, I’d like to see FFrench’s target share decline from about 10 a game to 6 or 7. Specifically, I’d like to see Aaron Matthews (8 catches for 113 yards, 14.1 YPC) and Dontavius Butler-Jenkins (6 for 65 and a 1 TD, 10.8 YPC) get some of those targets. Both are averaging a lot more yards per catch than FFrench (7.9 YPC) and I suspect each of them, especially Matthews, would do more with those 3 or 4 targets. If Shocky (2 for 26 receiving and 3 for 29 on the ground) is finally healthy, I’d like to see him get some chances too. In the Duke game, true freshmen Jared Wayne also had a nice catch for 17 yards in his first action. He should be headed for a redshirt, but like DBJ, Wayne passes the eye test.
Overall, this is a borderline “B” top 6 WR group in the ACC, despite having WRs with the 2nd and 7th most yards because this entire group only has 7 receiving touchdowns on over on over 120 WR receptions. This group needs to start making more plays and finding the end zone. In 5 games, Pickett has 35 more passing attempts than the next highest QB. These WRs need to do more with those opportunities.
