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Training camp report: 8/8/2024 - Top players, takeaways, the OL, QBs and more

Chris Peak

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Jun 19, 2004
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Pitt was back on the practice fields Thursday morning for another session of training camp. Here's a look at what stood out.

- There are plenty of new faces who will be counted on to play in prominent roles this season, and Kyle Louis is certainly one of them. We’ve talked about him as a projected starter at Star linebacker dating back to the spring, and we’ve done so with a fair amount of confidence - not just confidence in projecting him as a starter, but projecting him as a good starter.

That comes from the coaching staff’s confidence in Louis. Since he arrived in 2022, the coaches have been high on him; he’s not the biggest guy, but his athleticism, explosiveness and football IQ drew some rave reviews.

The problem was, he got hurt. So he missed a bunch of games as a true freshman and then some time in the spring before last season. But now he’s healthy, and it sure does sound like he is living up to the expectations.

“I think if you had someone rank the best players on defense, he'd be in the top three of probably everybody's pick, I would think,” Pat Narduzzi said before practice on Thursday. “And every once in a while we do that, pick the top 15 guys. Make sure you're putting the right guys on. Make sure everybody feels the same way. Don't put your name on it. See where we go, but Kyle Louis is a playmaker.”

I think Narduzzi is saying the coaches have the players vote for the top players, just to get a sense of what the team thinks. And it’s pretty clear the team thinks highly of Louis.

- On Tuesday, I mentioned a turnover he recorded during that day’s practice when he made a diving grab on a ball that was dislodged by Rashad Battle. I believe that was Louis’ second takeaway in training camp, putting him among a rather small group of defensive players who have records multiple turnovers through one week of camp.

You know how we track that: the coaches give the players stickers that say “TAKEAWAY” to put on their helmets after they record turnovers during certain drills. We’ve always kept an eye on those stickers to see which players are making plays.

Louis had multiple stickers in the spring, so it’s no surprise to see him show up with a few in training camp, too. The other players with multiple “TAKEAWAY” stickers so far:

Braylan Lovelace, Cameron Lindsey, P.J. O’Brien, Rashad Battle, Cruce Brookins and Dylan Bennett.

- I said it was no surprise to see Louis sporting some stickers on his helmet, and it was no surprise to also see Brookins adding a bunch, too. The redshirt freshman safety from Steel Valley seemed like he filled his helmet with “TAKEAWAY” stickers in the spring - he had at least five, that I recall - and he seems to have picked up where he left off.

- Louis, Lovelace, Lindsey and Bennett are all linebackers, and that position group has also produced turnovers by Keye Thompson, Jordan Bass and Davin Brewton. So that’s probably around nine takeaways by the linebackers through six or seven training camp practices. Not bad.

If Pitt can get some real playmaking splashes out of the linebackers this season, I think it can really elevate the defense.

- Other players who have produced turnovers so far in camp: defensive linemen Isaiah Neal and Sean FitzSimmons, safety Allen Bryant and cornerback Ryland Gandy.

- It’s interesting that a few freshmen are making an impact with turnovers, like Cam Lindsey (two), Davin Brewton and Allen Bryant.

- If I had to pick one freshman who I would say is least likely to redshirt this year, I think it might be Lindsey. We’ll see how many snaps are available at linebacker, but Lindsey can definitely help on special teams and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a little action on defense, even with the talent and depth that current exists at outside linebacker.

- They haven’t recorded any turnovers, but Narduzzi offered praise for transfer defensive ends Nate Matlack and Chief Borders on Thursday morning. Both guys are obviously going to play a lot - I expect Matlack to start and Borders to be in the rotation, at the very least - and Narduzzi said he likes the motors they have shown so far.

“Chief has got one of the best motors I've seen, okay? And you know what, if you put on your Nebraska highlight tape, you're going to see a motor. We lost a guy with maybe a low motor, and we got a guy with a great motor. And Nate Matlack has got a motor as well. It never stops, but he's smart, too.”

I’m not sure there was a need to take a shot there - I’m guessing it was aimed at Dayon Hayes - but the bigger point remains that Narduzzi has been impressed with those two guys.

I would hope he’s impressed with somebody in the defensive end group, because right now that spot is looking like one that will need a boost as much as any other.

- On the other side of the line, the battle between Terrence Moore and Lyndon Cooper continues at center, and while I think Moore will ultimately emerge victorious, I think the coaches will let that one play out a bit.

- Otherwise, I think the two guard spots and the two tackle spots are somewhat firm, with BJ Williams and Ryan Jacoby at guard and Ryan Baer and Branson Taylor at tackle.

- At some point, we’ll comment on the quarterback situation and comparisons between Nate Yarnell and Eli Holstein; for now it looks like Yarnell is still ahead but Holstein is pushing him. In the limited reps we’ve been present for, I haven’t seen anything to indicate that Holstein has either fallen far behind Yarnell or surged ahead of him.

It’s definitely going to be interesting to see how Narduzzi handles this situation. Will he name a starter during camp? Will he wait until the Monday of Week One? And if he does that, will he name a full-season starter or specify that it’s only a Week One starter? There are several ways this can go, but even though I’ve been pretty confident about Yarnell as the starter, it sure does feel like the opportunity is there for Holstein.

- Stay tuned for articles, photos, videos, interviews and more from training camp.
 
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