Pitt got one day closer to putting on full pads Thursday, with that big change in training camp action coming on Friday. But Pat Narduzzi said before practice that he liked what he saw from the players in their two shorts-and-shirts practices Monday and Tuesday and the “shells” practices - just shoulder pads - on Wednesday.
Still, there’s not a lot the coaches can take in terms of actually playing football when they watch the non-pads practices. They can gauge how the players line up and how they react to what they see on the field, but things change when the hits get real, and that will start on Friday.
With that will also come the real thrust of the position battles, whether they’re at cornerback, offensive line, free safety or defensive line (among others).
“I think those battles continue,” Narduzzi said before practice Thursday. “I think it’s too early. And you’re not changing too much on the depth chart, day one, day two. I tried to look for some changes yesterday and I didn’t get much out of the staff when we had a staff meeting.
“It’s hard for me to say, in your shorts, if you can make that tackle or if you can make that play. It comes down to, you either do it or you don’t. Until you go live, it’s hard to move too many guys around the depth chart. But you’re seeing good things and bad things and eventually things will get moved around.”
Among the moves fans are looking forward to will be the moves at cornerback, where freshmen are expected to push the upperclassmen for an open starting job. Narduzzi said he’s been impressed with the newcomers - Damar Hamlin, Therran Coleman and Henry Miller - but not to count out some of the returning players.
“There’s a lot of competition out there,” Narduzzi said. “Damar, Henry Miller and Therran Coleman are some of the young guys, but some of the other guys - Malik Henderson has shown some improvement from a year ago and he’s physical; we’re not tackling, but he’s snapping on people. The weight room has really helped him in this offseason. Dane Jackson has done a nice job, so there are two guys that are redshirt freshmen who are not only going to help us on special teams this year but are fighting to get a role on defense.”
- Free safety is an interesting position. Terrish Webb and Reggie Mitchell told me this week that they are in a “three-man rotation,” and I’ve mentioned that Mitchell has been getting work at strong safety, giving him the versatility to flip between the two safety spots if need be.
The versatility helps with depth but it doesn’t quite settle the starting job, which Narduzzi said is still up in the air.
“They’re able to play man-to-man on the number-two vertical; that’s what we ask them to do. So they have great knowledge and, really, right now they’re both co-starters in my opinion. Who lines up there that first play against Villanova, I don’t know, but at this point, they’re fighting to be that first guy out there.”
Regardless of who lines up first, I suspect we’ll see plenty of both Webb and Mitchell this season.
- Obviously, Jordan Whitehead will be on the field pretty much all the time despite offseason knee surgery. Narduzzi didn’t have any concerns about Whitehead’s health, saying the surgery was “minor” and that doctors went in to “just clean it up,” adding that Whitehead “could have probably gone without it.”
Whitehead’s surgery was on his MCL, but it hasn’t slowed down the reigning ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year.
“He looks like a million dollars out there,” Narduzzi said. “He really looks good.”
- Narduzzi also said that Jaryd Jones-Smith had a good day on Wednesday.
“Jaryd Jones-Smith looked really good yesterday, and it’s like, wow, where’s he going to be? We have to continue to find those spots on the offensive line, you know, who’s where?”
Jones-Smith started camp at second-team right tackle, but he has been working at both tackle spots on the second team. I think the final destination for Jones-Smith, as well as Alex Officer, is far from settled. I still think the coaches will find a way to get him on the first team, which could mean Brian O’Neill going to guard.
We discussed that move quite a bit this summer, and I was told that O’Neill did practice at guard during the summer workouts. I think we’ll see more movement after Friday’s practice and Saturday’s scrimmage. Either way, it’s a good problem for the coaches to have.
- Narduzzi said that Pitt worked on installing some subpackages on Thursday, and we saw a bit of the nickel package during the media window. From what I could tell, it looked like last year’s nickel package, with an extra defensive back taking the field and a defensive tackle leaving.
On Thursday, that meant Dennis Briggs coming in and Tyrique Jarrett going off. It also looks like Mitchell will get snaps at nickel, which further increases his versatility and gives the coaches another experienced player they can plug in at a variety of positions.
- After three days of practice, it looks like the top set of receivers is still made up of Dontez Ford, Jester Weah and Quadree Henderson. We’ll have some video later today of the quarterbacks throwing to those guys.
- Things will start getting interesting in training camp, as the two-deep could look different next Monday after a couple days of full-pads practices.
Still, there’s not a lot the coaches can take in terms of actually playing football when they watch the non-pads practices. They can gauge how the players line up and how they react to what they see on the field, but things change when the hits get real, and that will start on Friday.
With that will also come the real thrust of the position battles, whether they’re at cornerback, offensive line, free safety or defensive line (among others).
“I think those battles continue,” Narduzzi said before practice Thursday. “I think it’s too early. And you’re not changing too much on the depth chart, day one, day two. I tried to look for some changes yesterday and I didn’t get much out of the staff when we had a staff meeting.
“It’s hard for me to say, in your shorts, if you can make that tackle or if you can make that play. It comes down to, you either do it or you don’t. Until you go live, it’s hard to move too many guys around the depth chart. But you’re seeing good things and bad things and eventually things will get moved around.”
Among the moves fans are looking forward to will be the moves at cornerback, where freshmen are expected to push the upperclassmen for an open starting job. Narduzzi said he’s been impressed with the newcomers - Damar Hamlin, Therran Coleman and Henry Miller - but not to count out some of the returning players.
“There’s a lot of competition out there,” Narduzzi said. “Damar, Henry Miller and Therran Coleman are some of the young guys, but some of the other guys - Malik Henderson has shown some improvement from a year ago and he’s physical; we’re not tackling, but he’s snapping on people. The weight room has really helped him in this offseason. Dane Jackson has done a nice job, so there are two guys that are redshirt freshmen who are not only going to help us on special teams this year but are fighting to get a role on defense.”
- Free safety is an interesting position. Terrish Webb and Reggie Mitchell told me this week that they are in a “three-man rotation,” and I’ve mentioned that Mitchell has been getting work at strong safety, giving him the versatility to flip between the two safety spots if need be.
The versatility helps with depth but it doesn’t quite settle the starting job, which Narduzzi said is still up in the air.
“They’re able to play man-to-man on the number-two vertical; that’s what we ask them to do. So they have great knowledge and, really, right now they’re both co-starters in my opinion. Who lines up there that first play against Villanova, I don’t know, but at this point, they’re fighting to be that first guy out there.”
Regardless of who lines up first, I suspect we’ll see plenty of both Webb and Mitchell this season.
- Obviously, Jordan Whitehead will be on the field pretty much all the time despite offseason knee surgery. Narduzzi didn’t have any concerns about Whitehead’s health, saying the surgery was “minor” and that doctors went in to “just clean it up,” adding that Whitehead “could have probably gone without it.”
Whitehead’s surgery was on his MCL, but it hasn’t slowed down the reigning ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year.
“He looks like a million dollars out there,” Narduzzi said. “He really looks good.”
- Narduzzi also said that Jaryd Jones-Smith had a good day on Wednesday.
“Jaryd Jones-Smith looked really good yesterday, and it’s like, wow, where’s he going to be? We have to continue to find those spots on the offensive line, you know, who’s where?”
Jones-Smith started camp at second-team right tackle, but he has been working at both tackle spots on the second team. I think the final destination for Jones-Smith, as well as Alex Officer, is far from settled. I still think the coaches will find a way to get him on the first team, which could mean Brian O’Neill going to guard.
We discussed that move quite a bit this summer, and I was told that O’Neill did practice at guard during the summer workouts. I think we’ll see more movement after Friday’s practice and Saturday’s scrimmage. Either way, it’s a good problem for the coaches to have.
- Narduzzi said that Pitt worked on installing some subpackages on Thursday, and we saw a bit of the nickel package during the media window. From what I could tell, it looked like last year’s nickel package, with an extra defensive back taking the field and a defensive tackle leaving.
On Thursday, that meant Dennis Briggs coming in and Tyrique Jarrett going off. It also looks like Mitchell will get snaps at nickel, which further increases his versatility and gives the coaches another experienced player they can plug in at a variety of positions.
- After three days of practice, it looks like the top set of receivers is still made up of Dontez Ford, Jester Weah and Quadree Henderson. We’ll have some video later today of the quarterbacks throwing to those guys.
- Things will start getting interesting in training camp, as the two-deep could look different next Monday after a couple days of full-pads practices.
