Pitt’s rolling through Week Two of camp and headed for the team’s first scrimmage at Heinz Field on Saturday, a scrimmage that Pat Narduzzi said Friday will undoubtedly be the “biggest scrimmage of the year”.
(Although Narduzzi followed that comment by saying that he would inevitably call next week’s scrimmage the biggest of the year.)
Still, on Friday, the coaches dialed back the contact in anticipation of Saturday’s scrimmage. The second scrimmage of camp is often a key one, where players start to separate themselves on the depth chart: one’s pull away from two’s, two’s pull away from three’s, freshman make their cases for being kept in the conversation for playing time.
I think this year will be a little different, since the expanded nature of training camp in 2017 has created an extra week. So while the coaches may be thinking of Saturday’s scrimmage as a traditional “second scrimmage,” the reality is, they’ll still have another week of camp following next week’s scrimmage. Usually the second scrimmage leads into the final week of camp, when the coaches like to hone in on the two-deep and focus reps on the players who will be playing.
This year, they’ve got an extra week after the second scrimmage, so they don’t need to be in a rush to make those decisions. They can continue to foster competition next week leading into the third scrimmage and then start setting things over next weekend.
Either way, a scrimmage is a scrimmage, and all scrimmages are important for the players who want to establish themselves.
- It’s anyone’s guess how much scrimmage participation Pitt will have from some of the players who have been limited in recent days; my guess is the coaches will continue to be cautious with them and give them time to rest and - ideally - heal leading into Week Three.
- I do think Aaron Mathews should return to practice soon. Narduzzi previously said he expected him back at the end of this week, and that jives with what I’ve heard as well, so I’m guessing we’ll see him at practice on Monday.
- Speaking of the receivers, I posted yesterday about a few comments that sophomore Maurice Ffrench made. It definitely seems like he is getting the biggest boost in opportunities in the wake of Tre Tipton’s season-ending injury. Ffrench said he had been working almost exclusively in the slot this spring, learning the same position as Quadree Henderson and backing him up.
Now Ffrench has changed positions, moving outside to the role that Tipton was filling as Pitt’s third receiver. That might sacrifice a bit of size in the receiving corps - Ffrench is a little shorter than Tipton - but it definitely keeps up and possibly grows the explosiveness factor. If Ffrench, like Henderson, can become a reliable pass-catcher, he can make a lot of things happen with the ball in his hands, as we saw last year on a few plays and also in his high school career.
- If you’re Narduzzi, Shawn Watson and Max Browne, you have to like the potential of a three-receiver set with Henderson, Ffrench and Jester Weah. Add in a pass-catching tight end like Chris Clark or possibly a guy like George Aston Matt Flanagan at the fullback/H-back spot and a running back like the ones Pitt has and you’ve got a pretty solid group of playmakers. Maybe more than solid.
- We talked to Rashad Weaver after practice today, and he’s looking pretty impressive physically. Weaver said he is in the 250’s right now weight-wise after coming in about 10 pounds heavier. But that weight loss isn’t a bad thing; he said that strength and conditioning coach Dave Andrews put about 15 pounds of lean muscle on him and also cut off about 25 pounds of fat. So the net gain might be minus-10 pounds, but the overall change is a positive one.
I think Weaver’s going to see a lot of playing time this season, regardless of the players above him on the depth chart. He said he has been getting some work as the nose guard in the three-man defensive line that Pitt uses in the third-down Delta package, which will give him some more opportunities. But even in the base defense, I think Weaver will find himself on the field quite a bit. And when he’s out there, he’ll probably be a challenge for a lot of the offensive tackles he faces.
- I was watching some defense drills today and noticed a few things. First, watching Charlie Partridge in action is telling. In the drills I was watching, the position groups rotated through stations, so Partridge started with the defensive linemen, then got the linebackers and finished with the defensive backs. On each rotation, he seemed comfortable with coaching all of the positions. It didn’t matter if it was the linemen, the linebackers or the secondary players; he was animated with all three groups and seemed to know how to address and connect with each group.
I remember defensive coordinator Josh Conklin remarking in the spring that most people comment on Partridge’s ability as a recruiter but, in Conklin’s view, that misses the point that he is a very good coach as well. Through two weeks of camp, I’ve heard a lot of similar comments - players and coaches talking about how good a job Partridge has done.
In case you missed it, redshirt senior defensive end Allen Edwards had some strong words on Media Day when I asked if Partridge had improved his fundamentals:
“Dramatically. Dramatically. My bend around the corner has improved. I feel like I’m not the same guy from last year at all. When I watch last year’s film, I can’t believe I did this, I can’t believe I was in that stance, I can’t believe - yeah, I really don’t like watching it, but I watch it just to see the difference.”
- One other observation during those drills: redshirt junior linebacker Seun Idowu getting on some of the freshmen who weren’t, in his opinion, working hard enough. That’s not a knock on the freshmen; it can be tough to be in your first college training camp and go 100% on every rep of every drill. Rather, it’s more an observation on Idowu, who we’ve heard has emerged as a leader for the linebackers and the defense overall.
Somebody has to step up into those roles for a unit that lost starters at eight positions. I’m not sure who has done it, but Idowu seems to be one so far.
- Pitt will have a scrimmage at Heinz Field on Saturday and then the players will get a day off on Sunday before returning to practice on Monday. Stay tuned for more articles, videos, photo slideshows and more from training camp throughout the weekend.
(Although Narduzzi followed that comment by saying that he would inevitably call next week’s scrimmage the biggest of the year.)
Still, on Friday, the coaches dialed back the contact in anticipation of Saturday’s scrimmage. The second scrimmage of camp is often a key one, where players start to separate themselves on the depth chart: one’s pull away from two’s, two’s pull away from three’s, freshman make their cases for being kept in the conversation for playing time.
I think this year will be a little different, since the expanded nature of training camp in 2017 has created an extra week. So while the coaches may be thinking of Saturday’s scrimmage as a traditional “second scrimmage,” the reality is, they’ll still have another week of camp following next week’s scrimmage. Usually the second scrimmage leads into the final week of camp, when the coaches like to hone in on the two-deep and focus reps on the players who will be playing.
This year, they’ve got an extra week after the second scrimmage, so they don’t need to be in a rush to make those decisions. They can continue to foster competition next week leading into the third scrimmage and then start setting things over next weekend.
Either way, a scrimmage is a scrimmage, and all scrimmages are important for the players who want to establish themselves.
- It’s anyone’s guess how much scrimmage participation Pitt will have from some of the players who have been limited in recent days; my guess is the coaches will continue to be cautious with them and give them time to rest and - ideally - heal leading into Week Three.
- I do think Aaron Mathews should return to practice soon. Narduzzi previously said he expected him back at the end of this week, and that jives with what I’ve heard as well, so I’m guessing we’ll see him at practice on Monday.
- Speaking of the receivers, I posted yesterday about a few comments that sophomore Maurice Ffrench made. It definitely seems like he is getting the biggest boost in opportunities in the wake of Tre Tipton’s season-ending injury. Ffrench said he had been working almost exclusively in the slot this spring, learning the same position as Quadree Henderson and backing him up.
Now Ffrench has changed positions, moving outside to the role that Tipton was filling as Pitt’s third receiver. That might sacrifice a bit of size in the receiving corps - Ffrench is a little shorter than Tipton - but it definitely keeps up and possibly grows the explosiveness factor. If Ffrench, like Henderson, can become a reliable pass-catcher, he can make a lot of things happen with the ball in his hands, as we saw last year on a few plays and also in his high school career.
- If you’re Narduzzi, Shawn Watson and Max Browne, you have to like the potential of a three-receiver set with Henderson, Ffrench and Jester Weah. Add in a pass-catching tight end like Chris Clark or possibly a guy like George Aston Matt Flanagan at the fullback/H-back spot and a running back like the ones Pitt has and you’ve got a pretty solid group of playmakers. Maybe more than solid.
- We talked to Rashad Weaver after practice today, and he’s looking pretty impressive physically. Weaver said he is in the 250’s right now weight-wise after coming in about 10 pounds heavier. But that weight loss isn’t a bad thing; he said that strength and conditioning coach Dave Andrews put about 15 pounds of lean muscle on him and also cut off about 25 pounds of fat. So the net gain might be minus-10 pounds, but the overall change is a positive one.
I think Weaver’s going to see a lot of playing time this season, regardless of the players above him on the depth chart. He said he has been getting some work as the nose guard in the three-man defensive line that Pitt uses in the third-down Delta package, which will give him some more opportunities. But even in the base defense, I think Weaver will find himself on the field quite a bit. And when he’s out there, he’ll probably be a challenge for a lot of the offensive tackles he faces.
- I was watching some defense drills today and noticed a few things. First, watching Charlie Partridge in action is telling. In the drills I was watching, the position groups rotated through stations, so Partridge started with the defensive linemen, then got the linebackers and finished with the defensive backs. On each rotation, he seemed comfortable with coaching all of the positions. It didn’t matter if it was the linemen, the linebackers or the secondary players; he was animated with all three groups and seemed to know how to address and connect with each group.
I remember defensive coordinator Josh Conklin remarking in the spring that most people comment on Partridge’s ability as a recruiter but, in Conklin’s view, that misses the point that he is a very good coach as well. Through two weeks of camp, I’ve heard a lot of similar comments - players and coaches talking about how good a job Partridge has done.
In case you missed it, redshirt senior defensive end Allen Edwards had some strong words on Media Day when I asked if Partridge had improved his fundamentals:
“Dramatically. Dramatically. My bend around the corner has improved. I feel like I’m not the same guy from last year at all. When I watch last year’s film, I can’t believe I did this, I can’t believe I was in that stance, I can’t believe - yeah, I really don’t like watching it, but I watch it just to see the difference.”
- One other observation during those drills: redshirt junior linebacker Seun Idowu getting on some of the freshmen who weren’t, in his opinion, working hard enough. That’s not a knock on the freshmen; it can be tough to be in your first college training camp and go 100% on every rep of every drill. Rather, it’s more an observation on Idowu, who we’ve heard has emerged as a leader for the linebackers and the defense overall.
Somebody has to step up into those roles for a unit that lost starters at eight positions. I’m not sure who has done it, but Idowu seems to be one so far.
- Pitt will have a scrimmage at Heinz Field on Saturday and then the players will get a day off on Sunday before returning to practice on Monday. Stay tuned for more articles, videos, photo slideshows and more from training camp throughout the weekend.
