Pitt held practice No. 2 of spring camp on Wednesday in the South Side, and here’s a rundown of what stood out.
- Wednesday was my first time seeing the 2020 Pitt Panthers in person. As we know, Pitt is practicing in shorts, shirts and helmets - no pads - per NCAA rules, so that first look is still something of a preliminary glance, but a few things did draw my attention.
Like Lucas Krull. I saw him in person last month when we interviewed him for the first time since he got to Pitt, but seeing him running around on the field was something different. His size is the first thing that stands out, but he can really run at that size. I think there’s every reason to think he’ll provide the expected upgrade at tight end.
Jordan Addison stood out, too. Yes, we only watched a handful of periods in a non-pads practice, but you can watch him run and catch the ball and tell pretty quickly that he’s a talented young player.
And I was impressed with seeing Israel Abanikanda as well. He’s taller than expected, and from what I’ve been told, he’s got the speed and athleticism to match.
- Speaking of running backs, it looks like redshirt freshman Daniel Carter will continue working at fullback. He came to Pitt as a tailback but when he finally got on the field in 2019, it was at fullback and that’s where I saw him lining up on Wednesday. I think Carter’s got some interesting potential there; he would be a bigger tailback but he could potentially make something happen with the ball in his hands as a fullback, either in motion, on fullback dives or getting out to catch passes.
- Overall, there seems to be an upgrade in team speed. That’s tough to tell from the parts of practice we get to see, but the team as a whole seems to have a little more speed than it did in 2019, and in talking to a few people around the program, that’s the general feeling. This should be a faster team in 2020.
- Of course, the offensive linemen aren’t going to be considered fast; their evaluations will come with the pads on. But we did get a chance to see those guys line up, and on Wednesday, I saw Carter Warren and Matt Goncalves working at left tackle, Bryce Hargrove and walk-on Shane Murphy were at left guard, Jake Kradel and Blake Zubovic were at right guard and Carson Van Lynn and Grant Carrigan were at right tackle.
(Gabe Houy is out for spring camp.)
It’s interesting: Carrigan always looked like a big tight end. Now he looks like a skinny right tackle. I’m guessing they’ll put him on the Brian O’Neill weight gain plan this summer.
- I’ll be interested to see what happens with Deandre Jules. He’s got a body type that looks like he could slide inside to defensive tackle (if he hasn’t already).
- Tre Tipton was not practicing on Wednesday because he has not actually been granted a waiver for a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA yet. As I said on the board last week, he’s on the spring roster and a waiver is expected - it will be a shock if he doesn’t get one - but it hasn’t actually happened yet. Until it comes through, he’ll probably be lurking on the sidelines.
- Wednesday was the first time I’ve been in Pitt’s facility since Signing Day a month ago, and a lot has happened in that time. The entrance to Pitt’s office building and the main stairwell that leads to the coaches’ offices and team meeting room are getting a considerable facelift. There are also upgrades happening throughout the halls of the building.
It’s not a giant slide or anything like that, but the place will look better than it did in the past, and that’s the key: keep improving and upgrading.
- I counted all 10 assistant coaches present for Wednesday’s practice. That’s relevant since you might recall that part of Pitt’s sanctions from the NCAA included having one coach not at practice for four sessions in spring camp. Wednesday apparently wasn’t one of those four.
- Wednesday was my first time seeing the 2020 Pitt Panthers in person. As we know, Pitt is practicing in shorts, shirts and helmets - no pads - per NCAA rules, so that first look is still something of a preliminary glance, but a few things did draw my attention.
Like Lucas Krull. I saw him in person last month when we interviewed him for the first time since he got to Pitt, but seeing him running around on the field was something different. His size is the first thing that stands out, but he can really run at that size. I think there’s every reason to think he’ll provide the expected upgrade at tight end.
Jordan Addison stood out, too. Yes, we only watched a handful of periods in a non-pads practice, but you can watch him run and catch the ball and tell pretty quickly that he’s a talented young player.
And I was impressed with seeing Israel Abanikanda as well. He’s taller than expected, and from what I’ve been told, he’s got the speed and athleticism to match.
- Speaking of running backs, it looks like redshirt freshman Daniel Carter will continue working at fullback. He came to Pitt as a tailback but when he finally got on the field in 2019, it was at fullback and that’s where I saw him lining up on Wednesday. I think Carter’s got some interesting potential there; he would be a bigger tailback but he could potentially make something happen with the ball in his hands as a fullback, either in motion, on fullback dives or getting out to catch passes.
- Overall, there seems to be an upgrade in team speed. That’s tough to tell from the parts of practice we get to see, but the team as a whole seems to have a little more speed than it did in 2019, and in talking to a few people around the program, that’s the general feeling. This should be a faster team in 2020.
- Of course, the offensive linemen aren’t going to be considered fast; their evaluations will come with the pads on. But we did get a chance to see those guys line up, and on Wednesday, I saw Carter Warren and Matt Goncalves working at left tackle, Bryce Hargrove and walk-on Shane Murphy were at left guard, Jake Kradel and Blake Zubovic were at right guard and Carson Van Lynn and Grant Carrigan were at right tackle.
(Gabe Houy is out for spring camp.)
It’s interesting: Carrigan always looked like a big tight end. Now he looks like a skinny right tackle. I’m guessing they’ll put him on the Brian O’Neill weight gain plan this summer.
- I’ll be interested to see what happens with Deandre Jules. He’s got a body type that looks like he could slide inside to defensive tackle (if he hasn’t already).
- Tre Tipton was not practicing on Wednesday because he has not actually been granted a waiver for a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA yet. As I said on the board last week, he’s on the spring roster and a waiver is expected - it will be a shock if he doesn’t get one - but it hasn’t actually happened yet. Until it comes through, he’ll probably be lurking on the sidelines.
- Wednesday was the first time I’ve been in Pitt’s facility since Signing Day a month ago, and a lot has happened in that time. The entrance to Pitt’s office building and the main stairwell that leads to the coaches’ offices and team meeting room are getting a considerable facelift. There are also upgrades happening throughout the halls of the building.
It’s not a giant slide or anything like that, but the place will look better than it did in the past, and that’s the key: keep improving and upgrading.
- I counted all 10 assistant coaches present for Wednesday’s practice. That’s relevant since you might recall that part of Pitt’s sanctions from the NCAA included having one coach not at practice for four sessions in spring camp. Wednesday apparently wasn’t one of those four.
