Some Pitt Players That Will See Sunday NFL Rosters!

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

This is just my opinion, and I admit I am judging these players based on only their play at Pitt, but I believe a few can make a NFL Roster even if they do not get drafted! A Sports Lawyer that played in the NFL and represented many Athletes once told me, the fastest, biggest, and most talented player does not always play in the NFL......the smartest play, that makes the least mistakes. Pitt has always produced both smart and talented players. So has Penn State. Pitt should have about 8 Candidates to try and make a NFL Roster. Pitt had one of the youngest Teams in College this year and the Coaching Changes caused many Recruits to Decommit each year.

TJ Clemming is a given 1st or 2nd Round Draft Pick but it gets slim after that for Pitt!

Matt Rotheram could be a sleeper & is coming out the right time since this a year of Offensive Lineman being needed and not that many in this Draft. At 6-6 & 335 and from Hoyer's North Olmsted High School, I think he will make a NFL Roster. Matt has shown signs of being able to do the job since he was second team All-ACC and ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week, but he will need to do that every week in the NFL. Yet, he played all 4 years at Pitt going the building and re-building and coaching changes and Multi-Offensive Systems and will make a NFL team in my opinion.

Todd Thomas at 6-2 & 205 was a Top 100 Recruit when he chose Pitt but needed time to adapt to all the coaching changes and was in Chryst Dog house for a while, but he grew up, stuck with Pitt, and has the talent to make an NFL Roster. Todd has played many positions at running back, wide receiver, defensive back and linebacker and comes from a family known for Football, Basketball and Track just like Todd. Todd has the nose for the ball and will make a great Special Team player and practice squad as he adapts to the speed and size of the NFL. I love Beaver County Players and many of them play or make the Roster from Pitt, Penn State and WVU! Todd has the smarts to play and I think he will be invited and will make a Practice Squad! At his size, he also could try out at Strong Safety but that would be a task to match!

Ray Vinopal laugh all you want but that is what many did when this Wolverine recruit transferred to become a Panther, but he got better every game. At 5-10 & 200 he comes from Cardinal Mooney and they teach great Football with an attitude just like at Aliquippa and Clariton! The Coaching connections alone can get ray a good look on any Roster in the NFL. Sometimes there comes a player that knows where to be and works hard to make a Team and that is Ray Vinopal. If he does not make a NFL Roster he could become a great Coach. He is very smart and studies the game and knows how to make himself and other better as players and was an ACC All-Academic Football Team Honoree. If he cannot be around the Ball he will be around team as a Coach!

Isaac Bennett has the heart and determination to play in the NFL and was patience all years at Pitt learning the game. However, how bad his knee Injury from the Pitt bowl Game will determine his status to make a NFL Roster. He is a superb blocker and could be a great slot Running back on Third Downs. At 5-10 & 210 with those tree trunk legs and speed with smarts can make a Practice Squad depending on his knee and keeping that exploding power running after catching a ball in the slot.


Anthony Gonzalez at 6-3 and 230 pounds this Honorable Mention All-ACC has the bulk to make a squad but the speed in the NFL is so important and there are many Players just as big or even faster. Yet, he did learn the position and started the last 2 seasons whether that translate to a making a NFL Roster is up to where he is invited and how he handles the competition with smarts over speed.

David Durham at 6-2 & 240 has speed but has to work on his quickness to make a NFL roster. He transferred from Ohio State to Pitt and played Fullback in High School so he has good abilities to move and could be a Linebacker in the NFL. Unless he decides to bulk up and seek to become a Nose Tackle but would be a stretch and time consuming change.

Manasseh Garner another Big Ten Transfer to Pitt from Wisconsin. The NFL Draft is full of Wide Receivers this year and they are new Running Backs to score. At 6-2 & 220 it will take a big effort to make a Roster at WR but his speed and hands could be adapted to Special Teams unless he chooses to develop as a Tight End or goes to Defense, depending what Team he signs with and the competition will be fierce, but he was a standout recruit and played his freshmen year at Wisconsin and came with to Pitt due to Chryst!

Kevin Weatherspoon at 5-10 & 175 he is a scrapper like all Players at Clariton, and was another recruit that experienced the coaching changes at Pitt. Comes from a Football Family whose Father and Uncles played at Pitt, Penn State. Undersized but fast shows his grit to learn and will need every part of that heart and smarts to make a Practice Squad starting on Special Teams!

Penn State will have a number of players signing with NFL teams and more than Pitt. Penn State Recruiting Summer Camps and Larger Roster (Until Sanction reduced Them For 2 Years) is simply a great advantage and will always put more Players into the NFL. I said, more, not necessarily better?

However, look for that to increase big time under Franklin that has done a great job in acquiring far more talent than Paterno or Sandusky ever did, and Coach Pat & Staff have their work cut out to make sure the recruits they take develop as he did for many at MSU!

Yet, beware Franklin is recruiting at the same rate and high caliber as Johnny Majors and Jackie Sherrill did in the 1980s’! This could be the “Golden Age Of Penn State Talent To The NFL”, as Franklin continues to rebuild the Penn State Program.

At the same time, Pitt might have found its Joe Paterno in Pat Narduzzi that can recruit anyone and develop them into great Players & Good Teams, and stays a long time at Pitt! We shall see?

However, I see WVU’s Holgrosen having to win 9 to 10 games this year or maybe replaced and Coach Rod may consider going back to WVU?
WVU Holgrosen will have about 6 to 8 players due to having to dump some Fifth Year Players due to his over recruiting this year?

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

Looking at WVU Players heading to NFL once again, they have solid High First Round Pick in Kevin White at Wideout versus PITT and Penn State Players being later 1st or 2nd Round Draft Picks.

Penn State should lead once again in putting the most players in the NFL in the 2015 Draft with early Juniors Donovan Smith OT, Jesse James TE, Mike Hull OLB , and Adrian Amos SS graduating this year.

Penn State will put as many as 10 players on NFL Rosters and that is quite remarkable considering the Sanctions that reduced their Recruits and Players these past years.

WVU will have about 6 Players possibly going to the NFL having 2 Lineman and 2 Wideouts that can find NFL Rosters.

PITT having one of the youngest Teams due to Coaching/Recruiting Pederson's mistakes and changes and led to his firing, will have 8 Players being considered for NFL Rosters but far fewer drafted.

The advantages for these Players and Programs is that Offensive Lineman and Defensive Backfield since there are less of them in the 2015 Draft but more demand, and more Wideouts and Running Backs being plentiful.

Michigan State, Ohio State and Minnesota are expected to lead the Big Ten. Big-12 TCU, KSU, OU, and Texas will be right there in producing players. In the ACC, Louisville, Clemson, Miami, and FSU are expected to dominate

PITT, WVU, and Penn State still have a way to go to catch these Programs, but all are progressing towards it with New Presidents in Gee, Gallagher, and Barron, New Athletic Directors in Barbour, Lyons, and Barnes, as New Coaches & Staffs keep progressing in Holgrosen, Franklin, and Narduzzi!

I look for Coach Franklin to greatly increase Penn State contributions to the NFL in the coming years, with his superb recruiting of talent the last 2 years and continuing in 2016 and beyond. Anyone still doubting Coach Franklin's dynamic personality, passion, and hard work is not being realistic. This is a great choice for Penn State, in my opinion, but that means less opportunity to play for more recruits is a reality too.

WVU's Coach Holgrosen continues his Helter Skelter Big-12 valueless attitude towards Recruits and Players by having to compete in that Conference. Coach Dana & Staff on are the Hot Seat to win 8 to 10 games and must produce sooner or will be gone sooner.

I say this because WVU Football Program went over Scholarships Limits by as many 9 to 12 recruits, this past year, and has to tell some older WVU Players they have to move on and find some other vocation in their lives.

WVU is finding out in the Big-12 like Joe Paterno did in the Big Ten, that competing against just as big or bigger Football Programs in those Conferences means making adjustment values on selecting and playing recruits and players just to keep winning. It has led to Scandals and NCAA Sanctions on WVU under CoachRod and Holgrosen as well as Paterno-Sandusky Scandal at Penn State, unlike PITT!

PITT had its own drawbacks with Nordenberg-Pederson's "Self-Impose Myopic Vision Like Sanctions" with all the Coaching Changes and Recruiting Class chaos losses, and High School Head Coaching now needing rebuilt by Coach Pat & Staff since WVU's in roads to Aliquippa and Franklin's regional recruiting? Coach Narduzzi Ohio and SEC Transfers & Big Ten Transfers will fill Holes Pitt Defense being ignored by Chryst and Pederson's poor management.

PITT's Coach Narduzzi will have to do what he did at MSU whereby he turn less rated Star Recruits into First Round Draft Picks and why I still think if High School Players want to learn College and NFL Football with the opportunity to play early and often makes PITT IS IT for them if they are thinking smart!

We shall see what happens tomorrow and good luck to all of the players from PITT, PSU, and WVU!

 

[sammyk]

Good post

 

[Pghfan]

Under no circumstances whatsoever will kevin Weatherspoon make an NFL roster or practice squad. There is literally no set of scenarios possible that would lead him to be on a roster. I read a theory about infinite /parallel universes where each of us are leading lives that differ from all the others based on making different choices. If this theory is true, and there are indeed an infinite amount of universes happening simultaneously, there is still not one of those, again with there being an infinite number, where he ever lands on an NFL roster

 

[ratking17]

Honest question....did Weatherspoon have more catches or more drops during his career at pitt?

Also capt, if you ever place pat Narduzzi s name and reference joe paterno in the same sentence again, we are going to have words .

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

Chancellor PghFan, I think most of Pitt Players will not be drafted and will struggle to be sign to NFL Teams. One reason why my "Fonts" went from Bold to Faded by how I feel some Pitt Players will do in the future on signing with Teams.

Steve Pederson's Ego and just outright poor judgment on his management styles at Nebraska and Pitt caused more to keep Pitt Mediocre and made Nebraska Mediocre than anything all the Coaches had to deal with, Recruits-Student-Athletes, and clearly was not a Football Athletic Director!

It is quite strange, but to see Paterno's choice of putting Penn State in the Big Ten, and Nordenberg's abilities to secure the ACC for PITT, and Oliver Luck panic $20 million to get into the Big-12 all benefited the Universities Budgets, Revenues, and Football futures as far as money and resources, but not wins.

Nevertheless, these same decisions have hurt all Three Programs as far as competing against tougher competition and increased travels and other costs, resulting in less wins, scandals or mismanagement, and more losses as all Three adjusted to their new conferences.

It is quite weird too, the a Head Coach like Joe Paterno had that power to make that call for Penn State and led him to his own demise of his reputation and wins and eventually shame to Penn State name. Even worse, some of those mucho more dollars also caused great costs from the scandal, just so he could compete in the Big Ten. When he should have retired perhaps in 1998?

As well as, PITT's University President Nordenberg rebuilding PITT Athletics and eventual admission into the ACC with now steady and stable revenues for Gallagher to build upon.

Yet, brought dismay, lack of support, moved facilities from from Campus and the Buyouts of Wannstedt, Haywood, and Pederson that had to be fired because Pederson proved he could not maintain a Top Ten program at Nebraska let alone build a Top 25 at PITT.

As WVU Athletic Director in Oliver Luck increased WVU Athletic Revenues by Big-12 Invitation, and seeking a Top Coach to replace Stewart but could not wait to leave WVU for the NCAA, and WVU has struggled to win too and had to pay big dollars too.

PITT, Penn State, and WVU all had an University President, Head Coach, and Athletic Director to insure their futures revenue wise by joining 3 different Conferences, and at the same time, in different ways, reduced their Football Prowess in the process?

However, that is the past fortunes and misfortunes of all Three programs no longer playing each other every year, but all three Football Programs have new University Presidents, Athletic Directors and Head Coaches to begin new eras too!

It is up to Weatherspoon to prove you right or wrong, just as all players from all three programs, but what is still remarkable as far as I am concern, these players all went through multiple emotional and playing instability at all three schools, and still stayed loyal to their Alma Maters, Teammates, and never gave up on them, their schools, and themselves.

I wish nothing but the best for all them and I am proud of all them too, as well as PITT, PSU & WVU too!

 

[crharris8892]

TBH - the only one worthy to be drafted is Clemmings, the rest will have to fight out in camp invites as UDFA's. I enjoy the enthusiasm but its unrealistic. Garner, although he showed some moments in games, just had a really pedestrian Pro day, especially as a receiver prospect same for Witherspoon. The others will just have to catch some luck and grab someones eye at camp to even have a chance. Best of luck to their futures.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

Honest question....did Weatherspoon have more catches or more drops during his career at pitt?

Also capt, if you ever place pat Narduzzi s name and reference joe paterno in the same sentence again, we are going to have words .

Well words away, because it is my view with no evidence and just a hunch that Coach Narduzzi has the same traits of coaching as Joe Paterno has proven to have on his attitude, coaching, and creating better Teams from players he chooses to play.

I am going on record that Coach Pat Narduzzi will stay at Pitt and win a long time!!!!! He wanted to be at Pitt, and he has turned many 2 and 3 Star Recruits into First Round Picks, and created Top Ten Defenses in the NCAA!

Coach Pat is focused on only one thing, making Pitt Football Players and Team better. Moreover, Coach Pat has said, nobody will know more about his Pitt Program than him and his coaches. Sounds much like Paterno!

In addition, he has kept Pitt Practices more secret than other Pitt Coaches before him.

Now I am not talking about Coach Pat remaining silent about anything criminal or not following all regulations, like what happen under Paterno.

Nevertheless, to be fair I still think Sandusky caused great confusion among all of Penn State on what to do with such horrid allegations and actions and today all coaches, schools, and programs know how to avoid such scandals. Judging what happen then and when versus what we know today.

I am now on record that Coach Pat Narduzzi will make Pitt Recruits and Players into better Players and Teams, and I admit I have not seen one game he as Head Coach from him!

Paterno did the same at Penn State, as he worked hard to take players nobody thought could play as good as they proved later, and turn them into great Teams.

I see many parallels between Paterno and Narduzzi and the benefit of Paterno mistakes in hindsight will keep Coach Narduzzi from repeating those mistakes at Pitt.

I think we will all know in seeing the first 3 games at Pitt, that Coach Pat is a DC that is ready to become an Outstanding Head Coach.

He may need some time to adjust to a Staff he chose and depends upon, but this is just a hunch and he is more like a mixture of Majors, Paterno and Sherrill, than Chryst, Foge and Bradley?

We shall see? And I have no problem whatsoever in you disagreeing with me?

I still think Paterno was a great coach with flaws like anyone, and does not deserve worship, but as coach deserves respect and recognition on the many things, he did right, versus the few he ended up doing wrong.

In addition, I can accept others to agree to disagree with me without taking offense.

Just a Hunch But Not Gospel!

 

[geeman2001]

Its likely not a possibility, but I'd love to see Isaac Bennett get an honest shot in an NFL camp. If he is healthy, he's a special teams gamer and I bet he would impress. The guy deserved better luck with us considering how he stuck things out after the Graham fiasco and worked his tail off and served a valuable role.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

Its likely not a possibility, but I'd love to see Isaac Bennett get an honest shot in an NFL camp. If he is healthy, he's a special teams gamer and I bet he would impress. The guy deserved better luck with us considering how he stuck things out after the Graham fiasco and worked his tail off and served a valuable role.

I believe Cemmings OL, Rotheram OL, Thomas LB-SS-ST, Bennett-RB-ST and Vinopal ST-S can make a NFL Roster just like you say on Special Teams, Practice Squads, and Back-Ups and it depends upon his Knee.

 

[Pghfan]

I'd have to imagine Rotherham is a late round pick, right? What would be the knock on him? Has a ton of experience, size is there. Not sure about is athletic ability. Don't recall to many runs to the left with him pull g from the right. Great run blocker. Maybe his pass blocking?

 

[hailtopitt25]

Wow. No. David Durham? Weather spoon? Even Thomas is a stretch. Who cares if he was 100 recruit out of hs he got hurt and that slowed him down. As of right now Clemmings is still on the board and were half way through the third round. Rotheram and vino pal will get looks as ufa with maybe Matt sneaking into round 7. But you're way off on everyone else. Issac bennet? Lol