Pitt’s recruiting has kicked into overdrive this spring, so let’s take a look at where the Panthers stand on the offensive side of the ball.
- This is something I haven’t been able to type in two years:
Pitt is done recruiting quarterbacks.
I guess there was probably a point during the last recruiting cycle when the coaches more or less hung it up with high school quarterback targets. I mean, they always have an eye open for guys who emerge late in the cycle (that’s how they found Habakkuk Baldonado a few years ago), but I do think they reached a point where they more or less threw in the towel on trying to get a quarterback for the 2020 class. Tate Rodemaker was the last realistic option on the board, and when he signed with Florida State in December, that closed the book on quarterback recruiting.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that Arizona State quarterback Joey Yellen went into the transfer portal about three days after Signing Day; that changed the whole situation and took away a bunch of the sting in not landing a quarterback in the recruiting class.
Instead of projecting a late-offer high school prospect, the Pitt coaches were taking a guy who had spent a year in a college program and even played in a high-level game against Power Five competition. It’s not a stretch to say that Mark Whipple and company probably did better in the transfer market than they would have done if they had landed one of their high school targets.
Fast-forward four months, and the story is totally different. Instead of waiting until late in the process to find a quarterback, the Panthers had one in the fold before May 1. That’s Nate Yarnell, of course, who committed last week, and now I think Pitt is done with quarterbacks in this class.
That’s not a bad place to be.
- At running back, Pitt has had a commitment since last fall but I don’t think the staff is planning to sit with just one in the 2021 class. There are two fourth-year backs on the roster this season (AJ Davis and Todd Sibley) and then two young guys (Vincent Davis and Israel Abanikanda). At least one of the fourth-year players will be gone after 2020, and I get the distinct impression that the coaches want to bring in two new guys to fill out the ranks.
Rodney Hammond was a good start; to go with him, Pitt is looking at a number of guys. The Panthers are in the top five for four-star Ricky Parks and the top eight for three-star Colby McDonald. I’ve also heard from Anthony Williams and Will Towns that they talk to the Pitt coaches a lot, so those two are on the radar as well. And Ohio four-star Kyree Young raved about his visit to Pitt in January; he was hoping to visit this spring, but the emergency dead period canceled those plans.
The other interesting guy to watch is Malik Newton. He’s a three-star from Norfolk (Va.) but he’s a 5.7 on the Rivals rating scale - that’s just shy of four stars - and he’s got an offer sheet that impresses: Clemson, Louisville, Maryland, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Pitt’s in the top 12 for Newton, he visited last spring and he was planning to visit again this spring. I think the Panthers have a chance to get a big recruiting win there, and Newton would make a pretty impressive haul with Hammond in this class.
- Wide receiver is another position where Pitt has some guys on board but the staff is probably still looking for more. With commitments from Jaden Bradley and Myles Alston, I don’t think the coaches are as dead-set on adding another as they are at running back, but I think they’re working on a few guys to potentially join the class as a third receiver commitment.
Tyreek Chappell is listed in the Rivals.com database as a receiver and Pitt's got a good shot with him, but I think he's probably more likely to be a cornerback in college.
I'm mostly looking for Chris Beatty to keep working on guys from Virginia. That’s the Pitt receiver coach’s home base and he already has three commitments from the commonwealth, so I could see him continuing to pursue guys like Jaylen Jones (he put Pitt in his top five last month) and Malcolm Johnson (a four-star prospect with interest thanks to the Beatty connection). I think we're at a point now where we can't count Beatty out for anyone he pursues. He won't get every target, but he's doing an impressive job so far.
Taking a third receiver would be something of a luxury, but as Beatty continues to rebuild the position group at Pitt, the Panthers might sign three in 2021, which is shaping up to be a bigger class.
- Along those same lines, Pitt should have a pretty big group of offensive linemen in this class, too. The Panthers already have two commitments in Terrence Rankl and Marco Fugar, and there’s a good chance they double that number this weekend.
Two top offensive line targets are planning to commit on Mother’s Day this Sunday: Cass Tech’s Terrence Enos and MLK’s Brandon Honorable. As it stands at midweek, things look good for Pitt on both fronts. Both guys are bigger linemen; Enos is potentially a guard or a tackle, while Honorable is an athletic tackle.
I’m not counting those particularly large chickens before they hatch, but it does seem like the Panthers have a great shot at landing both of them, in which case the question becomes: would Pitt take a fifth offensive lineman in the class?
I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility, but kind of like at receiver, I think it would have to be the right guy and the list of players who have scholarships available to them would decrease by a bit. I think Pitt will continue working on Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic teammates Garner Langlo and Caleb Johnson, but it seems less likely that the Panthers will get them.
Jaydon Collins is an interesting option, too. He got an offer last Friday - the day after Fugar committed - and he has about a half-dozen or so Power Five offers as a three-star tackle prospect. If Pitt lands Enos and Honorable, that could change the pursuit of guys like Collins, but that’s not a definite; it seems like offensive line coach Dave Borbely has been maintaining regular contact with Collins, so he could be a potential fifth lineman in the class.
Continued...
- This is something I haven’t been able to type in two years:
Pitt is done recruiting quarterbacks.
I guess there was probably a point during the last recruiting cycle when the coaches more or less hung it up with high school quarterback targets. I mean, they always have an eye open for guys who emerge late in the cycle (that’s how they found Habakkuk Baldonado a few years ago), but I do think they reached a point where they more or less threw in the towel on trying to get a quarterback for the 2020 class. Tate Rodemaker was the last realistic option on the board, and when he signed with Florida State in December, that closed the book on quarterback recruiting.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that Arizona State quarterback Joey Yellen went into the transfer portal about three days after Signing Day; that changed the whole situation and took away a bunch of the sting in not landing a quarterback in the recruiting class.
Instead of projecting a late-offer high school prospect, the Pitt coaches were taking a guy who had spent a year in a college program and even played in a high-level game against Power Five competition. It’s not a stretch to say that Mark Whipple and company probably did better in the transfer market than they would have done if they had landed one of their high school targets.
Fast-forward four months, and the story is totally different. Instead of waiting until late in the process to find a quarterback, the Panthers had one in the fold before May 1. That’s Nate Yarnell, of course, who committed last week, and now I think Pitt is done with quarterbacks in this class.
That’s not a bad place to be.
- At running back, Pitt has had a commitment since last fall but I don’t think the staff is planning to sit with just one in the 2021 class. There are two fourth-year backs on the roster this season (AJ Davis and Todd Sibley) and then two young guys (Vincent Davis and Israel Abanikanda). At least one of the fourth-year players will be gone after 2020, and I get the distinct impression that the coaches want to bring in two new guys to fill out the ranks.
Rodney Hammond was a good start; to go with him, Pitt is looking at a number of guys. The Panthers are in the top five for four-star Ricky Parks and the top eight for three-star Colby McDonald. I’ve also heard from Anthony Williams and Will Towns that they talk to the Pitt coaches a lot, so those two are on the radar as well. And Ohio four-star Kyree Young raved about his visit to Pitt in January; he was hoping to visit this spring, but the emergency dead period canceled those plans.
The other interesting guy to watch is Malik Newton. He’s a three-star from Norfolk (Va.) but he’s a 5.7 on the Rivals rating scale - that’s just shy of four stars - and he’s got an offer sheet that impresses: Clemson, Louisville, Maryland, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Pitt’s in the top 12 for Newton, he visited last spring and he was planning to visit again this spring. I think the Panthers have a chance to get a big recruiting win there, and Newton would make a pretty impressive haul with Hammond in this class.
- Wide receiver is another position where Pitt has some guys on board but the staff is probably still looking for more. With commitments from Jaden Bradley and Myles Alston, I don’t think the coaches are as dead-set on adding another as they are at running back, but I think they’re working on a few guys to potentially join the class as a third receiver commitment.
Tyreek Chappell is listed in the Rivals.com database as a receiver and Pitt's got a good shot with him, but I think he's probably more likely to be a cornerback in college.
I'm mostly looking for Chris Beatty to keep working on guys from Virginia. That’s the Pitt receiver coach’s home base and he already has three commitments from the commonwealth, so I could see him continuing to pursue guys like Jaylen Jones (he put Pitt in his top five last month) and Malcolm Johnson (a four-star prospect with interest thanks to the Beatty connection). I think we're at a point now where we can't count Beatty out for anyone he pursues. He won't get every target, but he's doing an impressive job so far.
Taking a third receiver would be something of a luxury, but as Beatty continues to rebuild the position group at Pitt, the Panthers might sign three in 2021, which is shaping up to be a bigger class.
- Along those same lines, Pitt should have a pretty big group of offensive linemen in this class, too. The Panthers already have two commitments in Terrence Rankl and Marco Fugar, and there’s a good chance they double that number this weekend.
Two top offensive line targets are planning to commit on Mother’s Day this Sunday: Cass Tech’s Terrence Enos and MLK’s Brandon Honorable. As it stands at midweek, things look good for Pitt on both fronts. Both guys are bigger linemen; Enos is potentially a guard or a tackle, while Honorable is an athletic tackle.
I’m not counting those particularly large chickens before they hatch, but it does seem like the Panthers have a great shot at landing both of them, in which case the question becomes: would Pitt take a fifth offensive lineman in the class?
I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility, but kind of like at receiver, I think it would have to be the right guy and the list of players who have scholarships available to them would decrease by a bit. I think Pitt will continue working on Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic teammates Garner Langlo and Caleb Johnson, but it seems less likely that the Panthers will get them.
Jaydon Collins is an interesting option, too. He got an offer last Friday - the day after Fugar committed - and he has about a half-dozen or so Power Five offers as a three-star tackle prospect. If Pitt lands Enos and Honorable, that could change the pursuit of guys like Collins, but that’s not a definite; it seems like offensive line coach Dave Borbely has been maintaining regular contact with Collins, so he could be a potential fifth lineman in the class.
Continued...
