Friday, June 25, 2010

Todd Thomas To Start At WR

Dave Wannstedt confirmed that there was some debate about where incoming freshman Todd Thomas would play, but in the end, it looks like he's starting out at wide receiver:
Although Wannstedt doesn't expect many of his incoming freshman to make an immediate impact this fall, he left the door open for former Beaver Falls star Todd Thomas to make his mark, surprisingly enough, on offense.
"I wasn't sure where we were going to put him," Wannstedt said. "We've got him playing wide receiver and the guy is a playmaker. We were thinking about playing him at safety or linebacker, but the plays he's making on offense right now I think we're going to leave him at wide receiver."
I previously said that I had hoped Thomas would start out on defense and I still feel that way.  Next year, Pitt has All-American candidate Jonathan Baldwin starting at WR.  He'll be joined by Mike Shanahan who should be very productive and converted ex-QB Greg Cross.  After that, you've still got potential playmakers in Cameron Saddler, Devin Street.  From there, you've got some lower tier guys like Ed Tinker or Aundre Wright.  Next year, you've got super athlete Bill Belton coming in.

And that's not even factoring in the tight end position, which Pitt will hopefully utilize as a key part of the offense.

I don't have a major problem with this because Pitt will likely get production from him no matter where he plays.  And after this year, Pitt doesn't have a guaranteed superstar at that position as Baldwin is likely NFL-bound.

Still, I think there is more of a pressing need in the secondary and his services would be better utilized there.

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Anson - I may have already shared this with you but someone whose opinion I value very much told me a long time ago it was a lock that Thomas would be playing WR and that is the position he was being recruited for at PITT.

    It has been the fans who latched onto him being at Safety due to that being the position he played as a prep school senior - the PITT staff was noncommittal in public about it. A a matter of fact every time DW has mentioned Thomas he's talked about him being on offense.

    Apparently the PITT staff asked his prep school coach to play Thomas solely on defense to hide him from other, bigger named, schools trying to steal him from the Panthers.

    I envision Thomas either winning the 3rd WR job soon after the season opens or him sliding into the empty DD role should Cignetti want to do that again.

    Apologize if I'm being repetitive...

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  3. hard to believe he was 'hidden' like that. My guess is if he does well he's a WR. Otherwise they will encourage him to try something else (we could use another Safety, esp one who could dominate).

    BTW, in the BE school addition poll, why such a poor list of choices? Mizzou would be a better choice than any of those, offers new market, and is 265 miles closer than UCF. Just sayin...

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  4. Thanks, Reed - I don't think you'd mentioned that before. I think he'll make a fine impact at WR, but I just thought he might be needed more on defense. Whatever the case, though, I just hope they keep him at receiver now and that he doesn't turn into another Dorin Dickerson case.

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  5. Anon -

    The poll reflected the most likely schools to join. With Texas staying in the Big 12, it looks like everyone else in that conference will now stay put.

    Additionally, the poll says best Non-BCS school. I specifically used that criteria as it's more likely the Big East will be able to get one of those schools to jump ship than a BCS school

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