Pitt was back outside for practice No. 11 of spring camp in the South Side on Tuesday, and here’s a look at what stood out.
- Throughout the weekend, we heard that the defense won Saturday’s scrimmage, and given that the defensive players were wearing blue jerseys again on Tuesday, that seems to be accurate.
More specifically, what I heard the most about from Saturday’s scrimmage was the play of the defensive line. We saw what four-star linebacker Gabriel Williams said after watching the scrimmage:
“Then we went to the practice and their defense is amazing. They got a ton of sacks and the offense couldn’t do anything.”
Other recruits I talked to - mostly defensive guys - said the same thing, and I’ve heard more along those lines from people who watched the scrimmage. It was a good day for the defense.
- In particular, it was a very good day for the defensive line, which brings us to the updated list of defensive players who have recorded turnovers in spring camp. If you’re coming in late, the coaches put a piece of tape that says “TAKEAWAY” on the helmet of a defensive player who gets a turnover. The more turnovers they get, the more tapes they get.
On Tuesday morning, there were three players I noticed wearing new “TAKEAWAY” stickers, and they were all defensive linemen.
Redshirt freshman defensive end Sam Okunlola was the leader there with two stickers on his helmet. Those could have come from last Thursday’s practice or Saturday’s scrimmage; either way, he recorded two turnovers at some point over the last two sessions.
Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Elliot Donald was sporting a “TAKEAWAY” sticker for the first time Tuesday morning. And true freshman defensive tackle Isaiah Neal had one, too.
- I think I’ve talked about those guys - and the rest of the young defensive linemen - quite a bit this spring, but I’m going to continue doing so for several reasons.
For starters, this is a big year for the young linemen. Pitt lost its top three ends and its No. 1 tackle from last season, creating a lot of opportunity for players to step in. Those opportunities are going to fall to the young linemen - guys like Okunlola and Donald and Nahki Johnson and maybe even Neal, depending on how much he pushes the upperclassmen.
The other reason I am going to keep talking about the young defensive linemen is that the group looks really, really good. Everything I’ve heard about those guys so far this spring has been positive, and while coaches always have some amount of apprehension when they have to transition from experienced veterans to inexperienced young players, I think there’s some genuine excitement for Pat Narduzzi, Randy Bates and Charlie Partridge when it comes to those young linemen.
They’ve been excited about those players since they were recruits, they’ve been watching them develop for the last few years and now it’s time for them to get on the field.
- Johnson has been getting a lot of rave reviews for his play, and he seems like a lock to be in the top-four rotation at end. Dayon Hayes is a pretty locked-in starter, I would think, and Bam Brima is probably in strong shape for a top spot. Behind them, Johnson is positioning himself for a prominent role and I think Okunlola could be No. 4 to round out the rotation.
I don’t know about you, but that group seems like it could really blow up - in a good way - this season. There will likely be learning curves along the way. I wouldn’t be surprised if some teams break runs outside while an inexperienced end crashes in and loses his edge responsibility. But I think every game will be a learning experience, and by the end of the season, I think they’ll be playing really well. And they’ll probably put up some big plays along the way.
- I also have those expectations for Bangally Kamara. I know: I had those expectations last year, and his transition to regular playing time was a bit slower than I thought it would be. But he got better as the season went on, and in the Sun Bowl win over UCLA, he had five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception on his way to finishing as Pitt’s fifth-leading tackler for the year.
I think he’ll take a big step this year, on several levels: I think he’ll be more reliable in his assignments, I think he’ll make more “big plays” and I think he’ll stuff the stat sheet throughout the season.
The scrimmage highlights that Pitt’s state media releases are what they are, but I couldn’t help but notice that Kamara was all over the clips from Saturday’s scrimmage.
I think he’s going to have a huge season, I think he’ll be an impact player on defense and I think he’ll cement himself as an NFL prospect.
- Another player I’m keeping an eye on is Stephon Hall. The former Central Valley standout has had a strong camp, from what I’ve heard, and to be honest, I’ve been kind of looking forward to seeing him get a chance. He was in the 2021 recruiting class - that class that was most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic - and I think he dealt with some injuries in high school, so he was a little bit of an unknown, in addition to being overshadowed in the WPIAL by Donovan McMillon and the impressive crop of defensive linemen (Johnson, Donald and Dorien Ford).
But I was always intrigued by Hall. He’s big and athletic, and I was really curious to see what he would turn into. By all indications, he has turned into a really good player. I know I talked a lot last Thursday about P.J. O’Brien as the heir apparent to Erick Hallett at field safety this year, but don’t count out Hall. It sounds like Hall is not only splitting first-team reps with O’Brien but even working ahead of him at times. I think there’s a real battle going on there.
- We talked about the punters last week, and Tuesday morning was another day of just watching Caleb Junko and Jeff Yurk punt. But one difference today was that there were two blocked punts. I missed who blocked the first one, but the second one was blocked by Abe Ibrahim, a redshirt freshman linebacker from Chartiers Valley.
- Pitt will practice again on Thursday and then take the weekend off for Easter heading into the final week of spring camp. We’ll have photos, videos, interviews and more from Tuesday later today.
- Throughout the weekend, we heard that the defense won Saturday’s scrimmage, and given that the defensive players were wearing blue jerseys again on Tuesday, that seems to be accurate.
More specifically, what I heard the most about from Saturday’s scrimmage was the play of the defensive line. We saw what four-star linebacker Gabriel Williams said after watching the scrimmage:
“Then we went to the practice and their defense is amazing. They got a ton of sacks and the offense couldn’t do anything.”
Other recruits I talked to - mostly defensive guys - said the same thing, and I’ve heard more along those lines from people who watched the scrimmage. It was a good day for the defense.
- In particular, it was a very good day for the defensive line, which brings us to the updated list of defensive players who have recorded turnovers in spring camp. If you’re coming in late, the coaches put a piece of tape that says “TAKEAWAY” on the helmet of a defensive player who gets a turnover. The more turnovers they get, the more tapes they get.
On Tuesday morning, there were three players I noticed wearing new “TAKEAWAY” stickers, and they were all defensive linemen.
Redshirt freshman defensive end Sam Okunlola was the leader there with two stickers on his helmet. Those could have come from last Thursday’s practice or Saturday’s scrimmage; either way, he recorded two turnovers at some point over the last two sessions.
Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Elliot Donald was sporting a “TAKEAWAY” sticker for the first time Tuesday morning. And true freshman defensive tackle Isaiah Neal had one, too.
- I think I’ve talked about those guys - and the rest of the young defensive linemen - quite a bit this spring, but I’m going to continue doing so for several reasons.
For starters, this is a big year for the young linemen. Pitt lost its top three ends and its No. 1 tackle from last season, creating a lot of opportunity for players to step in. Those opportunities are going to fall to the young linemen - guys like Okunlola and Donald and Nahki Johnson and maybe even Neal, depending on how much he pushes the upperclassmen.
The other reason I am going to keep talking about the young defensive linemen is that the group looks really, really good. Everything I’ve heard about those guys so far this spring has been positive, and while coaches always have some amount of apprehension when they have to transition from experienced veterans to inexperienced young players, I think there’s some genuine excitement for Pat Narduzzi, Randy Bates and Charlie Partridge when it comes to those young linemen.
They’ve been excited about those players since they were recruits, they’ve been watching them develop for the last few years and now it’s time for them to get on the field.
- Johnson has been getting a lot of rave reviews for his play, and he seems like a lock to be in the top-four rotation at end. Dayon Hayes is a pretty locked-in starter, I would think, and Bam Brima is probably in strong shape for a top spot. Behind them, Johnson is positioning himself for a prominent role and I think Okunlola could be No. 4 to round out the rotation.
I don’t know about you, but that group seems like it could really blow up - in a good way - this season. There will likely be learning curves along the way. I wouldn’t be surprised if some teams break runs outside while an inexperienced end crashes in and loses his edge responsibility. But I think every game will be a learning experience, and by the end of the season, I think they’ll be playing really well. And they’ll probably put up some big plays along the way.
- I also have those expectations for Bangally Kamara. I know: I had those expectations last year, and his transition to regular playing time was a bit slower than I thought it would be. But he got better as the season went on, and in the Sun Bowl win over UCLA, he had five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception on his way to finishing as Pitt’s fifth-leading tackler for the year.
I think he’ll take a big step this year, on several levels: I think he’ll be more reliable in his assignments, I think he’ll make more “big plays” and I think he’ll stuff the stat sheet throughout the season.
The scrimmage highlights that Pitt’s state media releases are what they are, but I couldn’t help but notice that Kamara was all over the clips from Saturday’s scrimmage.
I think he’s going to have a huge season, I think he’ll be an impact player on defense and I think he’ll cement himself as an NFL prospect.
- Another player I’m keeping an eye on is Stephon Hall. The former Central Valley standout has had a strong camp, from what I’ve heard, and to be honest, I’ve been kind of looking forward to seeing him get a chance. He was in the 2021 recruiting class - that class that was most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic - and I think he dealt with some injuries in high school, so he was a little bit of an unknown, in addition to being overshadowed in the WPIAL by Donovan McMillon and the impressive crop of defensive linemen (Johnson, Donald and Dorien Ford).
But I was always intrigued by Hall. He’s big and athletic, and I was really curious to see what he would turn into. By all indications, he has turned into a really good player. I know I talked a lot last Thursday about P.J. O’Brien as the heir apparent to Erick Hallett at field safety this year, but don’t count out Hall. It sounds like Hall is not only splitting first-team reps with O’Brien but even working ahead of him at times. I think there’s a real battle going on there.
- We talked about the punters last week, and Tuesday morning was another day of just watching Caleb Junko and Jeff Yurk punt. But one difference today was that there were two blocked punts. I missed who blocked the first one, but the second one was blocked by Abe Ibrahim, a redshirt freshman linebacker from Chartiers Valley.
- Pitt will practice again on Thursday and then take the weekend off for Easter heading into the final week of spring camp. We’ll have photos, videos, interviews and more from Tuesday later today.
