I’ve been following Pitt football as an ardent fan for a long long time and can discuss their running backs going back to the early 60s with Paul Martha and Rick Leeson or the late 60s with Denny Ferris and Tony Esposito
In the ensuing 50-60 yrs, while there have been a few isolated years where we were below average in running the ball, Pitt through the decades compared to its peers has generally had a good ground game. In 2019 and 2020 , however, we are faced with two consecutive years in which we have been simply abysmal at running the ball. I cannot recall any similar two year stretch in Pitt history where we have been this bad compared to peers.
Running back is probably the single easiest position for freshman to come in and get early playing time, and therefore, of all the position groups , this is the one where you have the deepest pool of players to choose from .The fact of we have had two such a dismal consecutive seasons speaks to the general failure of our recruiting that position over a 4-5 year period .Here’s what we’ve generated on the recruiting trail over the past five years
2020 -- Izzy ( jury still out)
2019 ---Daniel Carter and Vince Davis
2018 ----Mychale Salahuddin
2017 ----AJ Davis and Todd Sibley
2016----Chantez Moss
To put it bluntly we have yet to "hit" on one of these guys . To many "misses" at this position in consecutive years .
Now here’s the five-year period immediately before that.
2015--- Darrin Hall
2014 ---Chris James and Quadree Ollison
2013 ---James Conner and Rachid Ibrahim
2012---- Rushel Shell
2011-----Issac Bennett, Malcolm Crockett, Cory Davis
In that five year period we “hit“ on four guys ( Bennett, Conner, Ollison and Hall)
Given that a good running back can be your workhorse for 3 to 4 years, if we had "hit" on just one of our recent recruits over the past five years (and had the good fortune of keeping them healthy) we would’ve had a different season last year and our prospects looking ahead for the rest of you this year would be brighter.In short, we are paying the price for five consecutive years of subpar recruiting at the running back position
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In the ensuing 50-60 yrs, while there have been a few isolated years where we were below average in running the ball, Pitt through the decades compared to its peers has generally had a good ground game. In 2019 and 2020 , however, we are faced with two consecutive years in which we have been simply abysmal at running the ball. I cannot recall any similar two year stretch in Pitt history where we have been this bad compared to peers.
Running back is probably the single easiest position for freshman to come in and get early playing time, and therefore, of all the position groups , this is the one where you have the deepest pool of players to choose from .The fact of we have had two such a dismal consecutive seasons speaks to the general failure of our recruiting that position over a 4-5 year period .Here’s what we’ve generated on the recruiting trail over the past five years
2020 -- Izzy ( jury still out)
2019 ---Daniel Carter and Vince Davis
2018 ----Mychale Salahuddin
2017 ----AJ Davis and Todd Sibley
2016----Chantez Moss
To put it bluntly we have yet to "hit" on one of these guys . To many "misses" at this position in consecutive years .
Now here’s the five-year period immediately before that.
2015--- Darrin Hall
2014 ---Chris James and Quadree Ollison
2013 ---James Conner and Rachid Ibrahim
2012---- Rushel Shell
2011-----Issac Bennett, Malcolm Crockett, Cory Davis
In that five year period we “hit“ on four guys ( Bennett, Conner, Ollison and Hall)
Given that a good running back can be your workhorse for 3 to 4 years, if we had "hit" on just one of our recent recruits over the past five years (and had the good fortune of keeping them healthy) we would’ve had a different season last year and our prospects looking ahead for the rest of you this year would be brighter.In short, we are paying the price for five consecutive years of subpar recruiting at the running back position
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