We likely will take 5 more commitments for the 2020 class: A QB, a TE, 2 OL and one player who is so good we will take him regardless of position. In fact, if there are 2 or 3 or 4 more recruits the staff really wants, they will find a place for them. Remember, you only have to be at 85 in August, and players on the current roster who don’t see PT in their future may transfer. So, while 19-20 might be the target, the class will grow beyond that if great opportunities open up.
If Pinder decides on Pitt, I would assume we would take him even though he is a DT and both Brown and Hayes are likely to end up there. Remember, it is much easier to move a DL successfully to the OL than the reverse. E.g., Pinkston, Malecki, Cummings and Andy Allemann (although he was moved to OG after transferring and ended up getting drafted.)
The versatility of some of our commits gives us a little bit more flexibility here: Addison can play either WR (his preference) or DB; DeShields can play a variety of positions. I don’t know how high the staff is on Hightower. Although you would think our LB recruiting is done, if they are really high on him and they want to take him, they could. If they are really high on the RB from NY, they could take him as well.
QB and TE to me are the big question marks. We really don’t have a lot of offers out to uncommitted players at either position. Rawlings is the only TE who visited and I am shocked that he didn’t commit. Some people have said QB isn’t as big a need this year, and short term that likely is correct. But, I think you need one in every class. That being said, I think it’s safe to say they won’t be reaching for a DiNucci in this class. If Whipple can’t find his guy this year, we might wait and sign two in 2021.
I still expect Traylor to commit, which would give us 2 OTs. We still need an OG/C, and one good thing about having the class almost full is that we can focus on just a few positions in evaluating 2020 talent going forward.
Obviously, the staff will need to spend a lot of time trying to keep all of these verbals in the fold. But, we should expect at least a couple of decommits, although hopefully nothing like the barrage PSU has had. Speaking of which, the way Franklin works we can expect him to focus on turning the recruits he wanted who chose Pitt. It is his modus operandus. But, the staff will have the luxury of focusing more on 2021 and 2022 prospects, which is a good thing. Giving Archie Collins more time in Georgia should pay dividends.
One thing I heard late last night: 22 was too many. It was an experiment, and it simply was too many recruits to give all the time with staff that was needed. Otherwise, they believe they would have gotten at least 3 more commits from last week’s visitors. I think 15 will be the maximum in the future.
This is a really solid class. If they perform their senior seasons, I think it will end up with at least 5 or 6 4-star players, but, more importantly, I can’t think of another year where we got such high level commitments almost across the board based on offer sheets. On the other hand, Aaron Donald, James Conner and Dion Lewis hardly had any other P-5 offers among them, and they all turned out alright.
Yesterday probably was the best recruiting day Pitt has had since Tony Dorsett said yes. Hopefully, it is just the start of things to come.
If Pinder decides on Pitt, I would assume we would take him even though he is a DT and both Brown and Hayes are likely to end up there. Remember, it is much easier to move a DL successfully to the OL than the reverse. E.g., Pinkston, Malecki, Cummings and Andy Allemann (although he was moved to OG after transferring and ended up getting drafted.)
The versatility of some of our commits gives us a little bit more flexibility here: Addison can play either WR (his preference) or DB; DeShields can play a variety of positions. I don’t know how high the staff is on Hightower. Although you would think our LB recruiting is done, if they are really high on him and they want to take him, they could. If they are really high on the RB from NY, they could take him as well.
QB and TE to me are the big question marks. We really don’t have a lot of offers out to uncommitted players at either position. Rawlings is the only TE who visited and I am shocked that he didn’t commit. Some people have said QB isn’t as big a need this year, and short term that likely is correct. But, I think you need one in every class. That being said, I think it’s safe to say they won’t be reaching for a DiNucci in this class. If Whipple can’t find his guy this year, we might wait and sign two in 2021.
I still expect Traylor to commit, which would give us 2 OTs. We still need an OG/C, and one good thing about having the class almost full is that we can focus on just a few positions in evaluating 2020 talent going forward.
Obviously, the staff will need to spend a lot of time trying to keep all of these verbals in the fold. But, we should expect at least a couple of decommits, although hopefully nothing like the barrage PSU has had. Speaking of which, the way Franklin works we can expect him to focus on turning the recruits he wanted who chose Pitt. It is his modus operandus. But, the staff will have the luxury of focusing more on 2021 and 2022 prospects, which is a good thing. Giving Archie Collins more time in Georgia should pay dividends.
One thing I heard late last night: 22 was too many. It was an experiment, and it simply was too many recruits to give all the time with staff that was needed. Otherwise, they believe they would have gotten at least 3 more commits from last week’s visitors. I think 15 will be the maximum in the future.
This is a really solid class. If they perform their senior seasons, I think it will end up with at least 5 or 6 4-star players, but, more importantly, I can’t think of another year where we got such high level commitments almost across the board based on offer sheets. On the other hand, Aaron Donald, James Conner and Dion Lewis hardly had any other P-5 offers among them, and they all turned out alright.
Yesterday probably was the best recruiting day Pitt has had since Tony Dorsett said yes. Hopefully, it is just the start of things to come.
