Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Greg Romeus Back Sooner Than Expected?

Dave Wannstedt sounded rather optimistic about the possibility of Greg Romeus' return:
Wannstedt said he coached a pair of NFL players who underwent similar surgery and they were back in the lineup in "four to six weeks."
Asked whether he expects Romeus back in time for the regular season or a bowl game, the Pitt coach said, "Regular season."
"I have been involved with players, in fact all defensive linemen, who have had surgery and have gotten back and finished out the season," he said. "They were (out) four to six weeks."
Added Wannstedt, "The plan is it's not a season-ending surgery. How many games he will get back for, we will just have to take that week to week. But I am very confident when Greg gets back, he will be playing at a high level and finish up a great senior year."
That's really good news not only for Pitt, but also for Greg. It will allow him to hopefully get back to the point so that NFL scouts feel secure enough to still risk a high-round pick on him. Of course, there's always the chance that Wannstedt isn't being completely honest in his assessment. But that seems unlikely for the reason that the sooner Pitt gets to the six-week point, that he'd merely have to answer questions about why Romeus is improving so slowly.

Assume he misses six weeks from now - that places him on target for the Oct. 30 Louisville game a few days later. If he stays on that schedule, you'd assume he'd miss that game since Pitt has a bye the following week and can rest him before the road game at UCONN on Nov. 11.
 
If that is indeed the scenario, it's a good one for Pitt as he would be back for the meat of the Big East schedule - road games at UCONN, Cincinnati, and South Florida as well as the home game against West Virginia.

4 comments:

  1. Not knowing the nuances of the NCAA rules, would Romeus, having played in just one game, be eligible for a medical redshirt assuming he can't come back this year? That way he could do another year at Pitt and show the back is healed. It might be a better option from a draft standpoint even if he is physically capable of playing this year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, he is able to apply for a medical redshirt for a sixth year even after appearing in a game. Not sure if one is the cutoff, but Adam Gunn did that in 2008 and his appeal for the sixth year was approved.

    I think he's probably gone no matter what unless his stock would fall so dramatically (out of the first two rounds) where it might make sense for him to come back.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know dorm space is limited but do you think the football team is considering using the city jail for housing?

    What is going on with these kids?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Eh, I'm not sure. But I chalk it up to the players making stupid decisions rather than Wannstedt losing control over the program. He did discipline Mason (although I think the punishment could have been missing entire games rather than a demotion) and I expect Douglas will be gone from the program.

    I'm not overly concerned, but Wannstedt better reign these types of things in.

    ReplyDelete