Pitt’s second practice of spring camp 2023 was a lot like its first. On Thursday, as was the case on Tuesday, the Panthers were in “shorts and shells,” as the coaches call it - helmets, jerseys and shorts with “shell” pads on their shoulders.
In other words, no pads. Which means no tackling and nothing really physical at all.
These non-padded practices are mandated by the NCAA, and while coaches would always prefer to have live action - or at least the opportunity for it - there’s value in these early-camp sessions as the staff is able to focus on teaching.
- For those of us who watch practice, not much changes with or without pads, since the practice periods we watch don’t largely contain much in the way of actual football. But there’s still plenty to see.
Like the quarterbacks. That’s always a position of interest, and the two springs of the post-Kenny Pickett era have been particularly intriguing.
We aren’t privy to things like decision-making and playbook knowledge, and even the coaches won’t have a real idea of how well the quarterbacks can extend plays - since they’re never getting hit, even when the pads are on - but there are a few things you can watch, even during the first few periods of a non-padded workout.
Today, I was watching Phil Jurkovec, Christian Veilleux, Nate Yarnell and Ty Dieffenbach throw simple patters to the receivers. The coaches had the players working in sets of two to the same side of the field, so Jurkovec and Veilleux would both take a snap, drop back and throw to a pair of receivers running different patterns on the right.
Then Jurkovec and Veilleux would flip spots and throw the other pattern before yielding to Yarnell and Dieffenbach, who would do the same.
It’s not the most complicated drill, but it does put the ball in the air a bunch, which means we get to see the quarterbacks throw and we get to see the receivers run a little bit.
- The thing that really jumped out to me today was the arm talent.
That’s kind of a buzzy word in football discourse the last few years, but it sounds a little better than saying “how a guy throws.”
Whatever we want to call it, I was really struck today by how the quarterbacks threw. And I really just watched the ball in the air. It’s tough to judge something like release in a drill like that, but you can watch the ball in the air, and I have to say, it looked good today. Jurkovec and Veilleux both throw really well, and Yarnell and Dieffenbach aren’t too shabby either. Not a lot of wounded ducks, not a lot of wobbly passes and almost all of the throws I watched were on-point and hit the receiver in stride.
- On one particularly amusing pass, Jurkovec seemed to test the much-ballyhooed speed of redshirt freshman Che Nwabuko by really putting it out in front of him on a corner route, but to Nwabuko’s credit, he got his hands on the ball and made the catch.
- We’re going to say it a lot over the next six months: Pitt’s success in 2023 will depend on how well Jurkovec (or Veilleux) plays, and it’s way, way, way too early to make any judgments in that regard. But I think the basic skills are there; the key will be putting those skills to use properly and getting impactful performances from the receivers.
- I talked about the receivers on Tuesday and there’s not much to add in terms of new observations there. I think we know the pecking order. One interesting thing to keep an eye on will be the punt return game. On Tuesday, freshmen Lamar Seymore and Israel Polk were catching punts; today, it was Seymore and Konata Mumpfield. Those drills are more about getting the formations and alignments correct than they are about the returners, but it’s always interesting to see who the coaches put back there.
- We haven’t seen any kick return drills, but that will obviously be one to watch after Pitt used running backs on kick return all season in 2022.
- Speaking of the punt drills, all of the kicks I watched today were made by Elon transfer Jeff Yurk or redshirt sophomore Caleb Junko. I’m not sure how the coaches approached the rotations, but it was interesting to see them not use Sam Vander Haar and Cam Guess.
- You never really realize how much bulk football players add from wearing pads until you watch them practice without pads for awhile. Guys tend to look pretty small. I mean, the offensive linemen are always going to look big, and a few of the more well-built guys will stand out. But for the most part, the players look kind of small without pads on.
That said, when I watched the defensive line today, I was really struck by the lack of size. I don’t say that in a completely negative way, but there’s just nobody who really jumps out for how big he is. None of the defensive ends are listed at taller than 6’4” - Nate Temple and Sam Okunlola are both listed at that height - and only two defensive tackles - Deandre Jules and Tyler Bentley - are officially over 300 pounds.
Now, that’s not exactly a huge issue, particularly with the tackles. We know Pitt likes smaller, quicker tackles who can get into the backfield and make plays, so that doesn’t stand out as much (although freshman Isaiah Neal, who is listed at 265, looks especially light without pads). But there just isn’t a lot of bulk in the middle of the line, and the ends don’t have a whole lot in the way of length. Okunlola is probably tops in that area, and while he’s pretty light (listed at 245), I think he’s going to be a really good player.
Maybe once the pads go on, those guys will look bigger, but for now, it seems like a smaller defensive line across the board.
- Conversely, I like the size of the safeties. Pitt’s not particularly deep at safety, at least in terms of experience, but the guys they have look the part. Donovan McMillon is built like a linebacker at 6’2” 210. Javon McIntyre and Stephon Hall are both close to their listed height of 6’1”. P.J. O’Brien isn’t huge, but Buddy Mack, who moved back to safety from linebacker, is pretty well put together, too.
That’s Pitt’s top five safeties; beyond those five, it’s pretty much all walk-ons, at least until the freshmen arrive (Jesse Anderson and Cruce Brookins are both slated for safety). There’s just not a lot of experience among those five. McIntyre played 190 snaps on defense in 2022 (91 of them in the last two games); O’Brien played 105 (55 in the last two games); and McMillon, who played 64 snaps on defense at Florida last season.
- Pitt had a number of recruits at practice Thursday morning, highlighted by two priority targets:
Four-star Austintown Fitch defensive end Brian Robinson and three-star Downingtown East offensive tackle Adam Abouraya.
Robinson is a big-time prospect and no stranger to Pitt. By my count, today as his eighth visit to see the Panthers in person over the last year. He was most recently on campus for Pitt’s Junior Day in January.
Abouraya listed Pitt in January, too, and he was in attendance for the Panthers’ win over Rhode Island at Acrisure Stadium last September.
We’ll have videos, photos, interviews and more from practice this afternoon.
In other words, no pads. Which means no tackling and nothing really physical at all.
These non-padded practices are mandated by the NCAA, and while coaches would always prefer to have live action - or at least the opportunity for it - there’s value in these early-camp sessions as the staff is able to focus on teaching.
- For those of us who watch practice, not much changes with or without pads, since the practice periods we watch don’t largely contain much in the way of actual football. But there’s still plenty to see.
Like the quarterbacks. That’s always a position of interest, and the two springs of the post-Kenny Pickett era have been particularly intriguing.
We aren’t privy to things like decision-making and playbook knowledge, and even the coaches won’t have a real idea of how well the quarterbacks can extend plays - since they’re never getting hit, even when the pads are on - but there are a few things you can watch, even during the first few periods of a non-padded workout.
Today, I was watching Phil Jurkovec, Christian Veilleux, Nate Yarnell and Ty Dieffenbach throw simple patters to the receivers. The coaches had the players working in sets of two to the same side of the field, so Jurkovec and Veilleux would both take a snap, drop back and throw to a pair of receivers running different patterns on the right.
Then Jurkovec and Veilleux would flip spots and throw the other pattern before yielding to Yarnell and Dieffenbach, who would do the same.
It’s not the most complicated drill, but it does put the ball in the air a bunch, which means we get to see the quarterbacks throw and we get to see the receivers run a little bit.
- The thing that really jumped out to me today was the arm talent.
That’s kind of a buzzy word in football discourse the last few years, but it sounds a little better than saying “how a guy throws.”
Whatever we want to call it, I was really struck today by how the quarterbacks threw. And I really just watched the ball in the air. It’s tough to judge something like release in a drill like that, but you can watch the ball in the air, and I have to say, it looked good today. Jurkovec and Veilleux both throw really well, and Yarnell and Dieffenbach aren’t too shabby either. Not a lot of wounded ducks, not a lot of wobbly passes and almost all of the throws I watched were on-point and hit the receiver in stride.
- On one particularly amusing pass, Jurkovec seemed to test the much-ballyhooed speed of redshirt freshman Che Nwabuko by really putting it out in front of him on a corner route, but to Nwabuko’s credit, he got his hands on the ball and made the catch.
- We’re going to say it a lot over the next six months: Pitt’s success in 2023 will depend on how well Jurkovec (or Veilleux) plays, and it’s way, way, way too early to make any judgments in that regard. But I think the basic skills are there; the key will be putting those skills to use properly and getting impactful performances from the receivers.
- I talked about the receivers on Tuesday and there’s not much to add in terms of new observations there. I think we know the pecking order. One interesting thing to keep an eye on will be the punt return game. On Tuesday, freshmen Lamar Seymore and Israel Polk were catching punts; today, it was Seymore and Konata Mumpfield. Those drills are more about getting the formations and alignments correct than they are about the returners, but it’s always interesting to see who the coaches put back there.
- We haven’t seen any kick return drills, but that will obviously be one to watch after Pitt used running backs on kick return all season in 2022.
- Speaking of the punt drills, all of the kicks I watched today were made by Elon transfer Jeff Yurk or redshirt sophomore Caleb Junko. I’m not sure how the coaches approached the rotations, but it was interesting to see them not use Sam Vander Haar and Cam Guess.
- You never really realize how much bulk football players add from wearing pads until you watch them practice without pads for awhile. Guys tend to look pretty small. I mean, the offensive linemen are always going to look big, and a few of the more well-built guys will stand out. But for the most part, the players look kind of small without pads on.
That said, when I watched the defensive line today, I was really struck by the lack of size. I don’t say that in a completely negative way, but there’s just nobody who really jumps out for how big he is. None of the defensive ends are listed at taller than 6’4” - Nate Temple and Sam Okunlola are both listed at that height - and only two defensive tackles - Deandre Jules and Tyler Bentley - are officially over 300 pounds.
Now, that’s not exactly a huge issue, particularly with the tackles. We know Pitt likes smaller, quicker tackles who can get into the backfield and make plays, so that doesn’t stand out as much (although freshman Isaiah Neal, who is listed at 265, looks especially light without pads). But there just isn’t a lot of bulk in the middle of the line, and the ends don’t have a whole lot in the way of length. Okunlola is probably tops in that area, and while he’s pretty light (listed at 245), I think he’s going to be a really good player.
Maybe once the pads go on, those guys will look bigger, but for now, it seems like a smaller defensive line across the board.
- Conversely, I like the size of the safeties. Pitt’s not particularly deep at safety, at least in terms of experience, but the guys they have look the part. Donovan McMillon is built like a linebacker at 6’2” 210. Javon McIntyre and Stephon Hall are both close to their listed height of 6’1”. P.J. O’Brien isn’t huge, but Buddy Mack, who moved back to safety from linebacker, is pretty well put together, too.
That’s Pitt’s top five safeties; beyond those five, it’s pretty much all walk-ons, at least until the freshmen arrive (Jesse Anderson and Cruce Brookins are both slated for safety). There’s just not a lot of experience among those five. McIntyre played 190 snaps on defense in 2022 (91 of them in the last two games); O’Brien played 105 (55 in the last two games); and McMillon, who played 64 snaps on defense at Florida last season.
- Pitt had a number of recruits at practice Thursday morning, highlighted by two priority targets:
Four-star Austintown Fitch defensive end Brian Robinson and three-star Downingtown East offensive tackle Adam Abouraya.
Robinson is a big-time prospect and no stranger to Pitt. By my count, today as his eighth visit to see the Panthers in person over the last year. He was most recently on campus for Pitt’s Junior Day in January.
Abouraya listed Pitt in January, too, and he was in attendance for the Panthers’ win over Rhode Island at Acrisure Stadium last September.
We’ll have videos, photos, interviews and more from practice this afternoon.
