So, college camp season finally got underway today here in good ole Pittsburgh. I have a lot of notes to run through from the first day and I'll have many articles coming over the next few days, so let's not waste time on a pre-amble.
- I'm going to have updates coming on several visitors here in the next day or two. I've spoken with a number of prospects we expected to be on campus - Spencer Anderson, Brian Dallas, Jordan Clark, and others - and also a few who surprised and made their presence felt while they were there.
- Speaking of surprises, there were a number of faces who showed up today that we didn't expect to see there. 2018 JUCO offensive tackle TJ Bradley made the trip down from Scranton, offered 2019 LB Kyi Wright decided to double dip and show up on Saturday before his Sunday visit, Spencer Anderson came a day early to work out for the coaches, 2019 DB Jordan Clark (the son of former Steeler Ryan Clark) impressed the coaches enough to earn an offer, and a couple of 2018 Ohio defensive ends (Antonio Smith and Brandon Derrow) made their case to earn an offer from the Panthers. I'll have some tidbits on all of that and more.
- Let's start with TJ Bradley, who's probably received a little less attention than his teammate at Lackawanna and fellow Pitt offer at offensive tackle, Chase Brown. TJ kind of flew in under the radar for this trip and I found out he'd be there as I was getting ready to leave. I'll be speaking with him here shortly, but this bodes well for Pitt. People close to the program have a relatively high degree of confidence that they'll be able to land one of the two JUCO options at OT, Brown or Bradley. It would add an infusion of talent and ready-to-play experience in addition to what should be a good crop coming out of the high school ranks.
- Jordan Clark just made news this evening as he picked up an offer from Pitt just after camping with the Panthers. The son of former Steelers safety Ryan Clark, Jordan is a 2019 prospect who also holds offers from SMU and Houston. Although he plays his high school ball in Louisiana, Clark still considers Pittsburgh his original hometown and he was thrilled to be back around familiar sights. He made sure that he carved out an open weekend to get to Pitt and he talked about memories of watching Pitt games as a kid when his dad played for the Steelers. There's a long way to go in his recruitment, but Josh Conklin, Renaldo Hill, and Pat Narduzzi identified a young talent that they like with ties to the city, pulled the trigger on an offer, and really impressed him.
- I know I've been singing his praises now for several months, but 2019 DE Brian Dallas, a product of Pittsburgh Central Catholic, backed up all of my talk today. He looked really quick and fast-twitch when he was moving around and adapted to the technique teachings from Charlie Partridge very quickly. He went into the visit thinking it was just like any old camp, but he ended up sitting down one-on-one with Pat Narduzzi and he picked up some very strong vibes that an offer could be on the way sooner rather than later if he stays on the track that he's on. Keep an eye on Dallas and a potential Pitt offer early in the fall and stay tuned for that interview coming tomorrow.
- Spencer Anderson, a three-star Maryland prospect in the class of 2018, has been listed as a defensive tackle on Rivals for some time and holds several Power Five offers there. Schools like Pitt, Wake Forest, Kentucky, Maryland, Boston College, and others evaluated and offered him as a DT initially. Today, he worked out for Pitt as an offensive lineman and I'm told to expect him to slot in on Pitt's OL board there moving forward. Pitt liked what they saw and they'll continue to recruit him, but they don't want him to rush into a commitment as they figure out the situation with prospects like the aforementioned Bradley and Brown and high schoolers like Bleich, Zubovic, Johnson, and others. His visit to Pitt blew him away though, the kid sounded really impressed by everything that Pitt had to offer. Seems like they're sitting pretty here for a pretty talented kid.
- Antonio Smith of Westerville South and Brandon Derrow of St. Francis DeSales are two Columbus-area defensive ends in the 2018 class that auditioned for Pitt offers today. Smith probably looked the best coming off of the bus of any player at the camp and he was chiseled at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds-ish (going off of sight). He's got a big camp schedule coming up and some P5 school is going to offer sooner or later, he's too talented and well-built for that not to happen. Derrow already holds a P5 offer (Rutgers) and Pitt showed interest in him as well, as have schools like Boston College and Indiana. He's another really well-built kid, but I view him as a more of a strongside end in the future. Both are offer candidates to watch depending on how Pitt's DE recruiting shakes out.
- 2019 OL Andrew Kristofic had a good, not great, day. Kid from Pine Richland is going to be a P5 player, but he needs to add a lot of weight. He's rail thin right now for an offensive tackle, but he has a great frame and he moves really well. I like the upside, just need to see more development. Akron is the first offer but more will follow. Pitt has shown interest.
- Pitt is staying in touch with two more prospects who camped. The first is 2019 LB Cody Ross of Freedom (Pa.), who's a bit sawed off but is a true middle linebacker and has the aggression and football IQ that you like to see. The second didn't even work out today, but generated attention just by walking around. 2018 WR/FS Tristan Ballard just moved to Sharon (Pa.) from Ursuline in Youngstown (Ohio) and he's a 6-foot-5 freaky athlete who somebody is going to just take a chance on and offer. Recovering from a surgery on his leg right now.
- Here are some other visitors I didn't know would be there going into camp who impressed me, in order of position:
QB: Keyshawn Copeland, 2019, Virginia
QB: Connor Bazelak, 2019, Ohio
RB: Isaiah Berry, 2021, Pennsylvania (Clairton)
WR: Brandon Walker, 2019, Maryland
TE: Luke Benson, 2019, Pennsylvania (Central Bucks West)
OL: Tyler Leroux, 2020, Pennsylvania (Gateway)
DL: Asim Richards, 2019, Pennsylvania (Haverford School)
DB: Nate Whitaker, 2019, Pennsylvania (Haverford School)
DB: Jelani Solomon, 2019, Pennsylvania (Central Valley)
- I'm going to have updates coming on several visitors here in the next day or two. I've spoken with a number of prospects we expected to be on campus - Spencer Anderson, Brian Dallas, Jordan Clark, and others - and also a few who surprised and made their presence felt while they were there.
- Speaking of surprises, there were a number of faces who showed up today that we didn't expect to see there. 2018 JUCO offensive tackle TJ Bradley made the trip down from Scranton, offered 2019 LB Kyi Wright decided to double dip and show up on Saturday before his Sunday visit, Spencer Anderson came a day early to work out for the coaches, 2019 DB Jordan Clark (the son of former Steeler Ryan Clark) impressed the coaches enough to earn an offer, and a couple of 2018 Ohio defensive ends (Antonio Smith and Brandon Derrow) made their case to earn an offer from the Panthers. I'll have some tidbits on all of that and more.
- Let's start with TJ Bradley, who's probably received a little less attention than his teammate at Lackawanna and fellow Pitt offer at offensive tackle, Chase Brown. TJ kind of flew in under the radar for this trip and I found out he'd be there as I was getting ready to leave. I'll be speaking with him here shortly, but this bodes well for Pitt. People close to the program have a relatively high degree of confidence that they'll be able to land one of the two JUCO options at OT, Brown or Bradley. It would add an infusion of talent and ready-to-play experience in addition to what should be a good crop coming out of the high school ranks.
- Jordan Clark just made news this evening as he picked up an offer from Pitt just after camping with the Panthers. The son of former Steelers safety Ryan Clark, Jordan is a 2019 prospect who also holds offers from SMU and Houston. Although he plays his high school ball in Louisiana, Clark still considers Pittsburgh his original hometown and he was thrilled to be back around familiar sights. He made sure that he carved out an open weekend to get to Pitt and he talked about memories of watching Pitt games as a kid when his dad played for the Steelers. There's a long way to go in his recruitment, but Josh Conklin, Renaldo Hill, and Pat Narduzzi identified a young talent that they like with ties to the city, pulled the trigger on an offer, and really impressed him.
- I know I've been singing his praises now for several months, but 2019 DE Brian Dallas, a product of Pittsburgh Central Catholic, backed up all of my talk today. He looked really quick and fast-twitch when he was moving around and adapted to the technique teachings from Charlie Partridge very quickly. He went into the visit thinking it was just like any old camp, but he ended up sitting down one-on-one with Pat Narduzzi and he picked up some very strong vibes that an offer could be on the way sooner rather than later if he stays on the track that he's on. Keep an eye on Dallas and a potential Pitt offer early in the fall and stay tuned for that interview coming tomorrow.
- Spencer Anderson, a three-star Maryland prospect in the class of 2018, has been listed as a defensive tackle on Rivals for some time and holds several Power Five offers there. Schools like Pitt, Wake Forest, Kentucky, Maryland, Boston College, and others evaluated and offered him as a DT initially. Today, he worked out for Pitt as an offensive lineman and I'm told to expect him to slot in on Pitt's OL board there moving forward. Pitt liked what they saw and they'll continue to recruit him, but they don't want him to rush into a commitment as they figure out the situation with prospects like the aforementioned Bradley and Brown and high schoolers like Bleich, Zubovic, Johnson, and others. His visit to Pitt blew him away though, the kid sounded really impressed by everything that Pitt had to offer. Seems like they're sitting pretty here for a pretty talented kid.
- Antonio Smith of Westerville South and Brandon Derrow of St. Francis DeSales are two Columbus-area defensive ends in the 2018 class that auditioned for Pitt offers today. Smith probably looked the best coming off of the bus of any player at the camp and he was chiseled at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds-ish (going off of sight). He's got a big camp schedule coming up and some P5 school is going to offer sooner or later, he's too talented and well-built for that not to happen. Derrow already holds a P5 offer (Rutgers) and Pitt showed interest in him as well, as have schools like Boston College and Indiana. He's another really well-built kid, but I view him as a more of a strongside end in the future. Both are offer candidates to watch depending on how Pitt's DE recruiting shakes out.
- 2019 OL Andrew Kristofic had a good, not great, day. Kid from Pine Richland is going to be a P5 player, but he needs to add a lot of weight. He's rail thin right now for an offensive tackle, but he has a great frame and he moves really well. I like the upside, just need to see more development. Akron is the first offer but more will follow. Pitt has shown interest.
- Pitt is staying in touch with two more prospects who camped. The first is 2019 LB Cody Ross of Freedom (Pa.), who's a bit sawed off but is a true middle linebacker and has the aggression and football IQ that you like to see. The second didn't even work out today, but generated attention just by walking around. 2018 WR/FS Tristan Ballard just moved to Sharon (Pa.) from Ursuline in Youngstown (Ohio) and he's a 6-foot-5 freaky athlete who somebody is going to just take a chance on and offer. Recovering from a surgery on his leg right now.
- Here are some other visitors I didn't know would be there going into camp who impressed me, in order of position:
QB: Keyshawn Copeland, 2019, Virginia
QB: Connor Bazelak, 2019, Ohio
RB: Isaiah Berry, 2021, Pennsylvania (Clairton)
WR: Brandon Walker, 2019, Maryland
TE: Luke Benson, 2019, Pennsylvania (Central Bucks West)
OL: Tyler Leroux, 2020, Pennsylvania (Gateway)
DL: Asim Richards, 2019, Pennsylvania (Haverford School)
DB: Nate Whitaker, 2019, Pennsylvania (Haverford School)
DB: Jelani Solomon, 2019, Pennsylvania (Central Valley)
