Greg Romeus To Have Back Surgery

Looks like the rumors and speculation was true - Greg Romeus will have back surgery, as reported by the Post-Gazette and Tribune-Review today.

The surgery will rob him of the majority of the season and while Dave Wannstedt says he will be back for the "conclusion of the season," it's pretty obvious that he'll miss most if not the rest of Pitt's games.

Wannstedt read a prepared statement today:

"Our top priority is doing what is best for Greg," Wannstedt said in a prepared statement. "After consulting with him, his family and our medical staff, it was determined that immediate surgery is the best option for Greg both personally and athletically."

Romeus has already used up his redshirt and his Pitt career may end after this season. He could try to get a sixth year of eligibility as Adam Gunn did (Gunn also played in one game the season he was injured and had previously used a redshirt), but since he's projected as a high NFL Draft pick, I don't know that he'd want to risk coming back to school anyway.

The good news, if there is any, is that Brandon Lindsey appears to be ready to step in and play. I've heard a lot of talk about how well he played last week, but that was against an FCS-School offensive line. I think he'll be fine, but definitely a downgrade from a fully healthy Romeus.

Greg Romeus Still A Question Mark

Another day and more questions about Greg Romeus. The questions have been going on since training camp and haven't really stopped.

For starters, Paul Zeise said he looked like he had a hard time staying loose against Utah.

And then there was this week, when he was absent entirely. Pitt and Dave Wannstedt didn't really clarify if it was injury or something else that caused him to miss the game.

Coach Dave Wannstedt said Romeus, the 2009 Big East co-Defensive Player of the Year, was excused "to go home for personal reasons."

It seems pretty clear that this is injury-related and he's not completely healthy. No news there. At some point, just come clean about the injury.  I don't see why it's such a huge deal.

This is, of course, leading to mass speculation.

And Jabaal Sheard, after the New Hampshire game, made it sound like we can expect to see Romeus away for a while...and tried to paint a rosy picture at the same time:

"We know we have to step it up without Greg," Sheard said. "We are definitely going to miss Greg, we will definitely miss him because he is a leader, he pushes all of us and he's a great player. But guys like Brandon and Nate Nix stepped up and made a lot of plays.

"I know Greg is happy at home watching this game but we'll be fine without him until he gets back. Brandon is a great pass rusher, he is actually probably faster than Greg, and we saw that last year against Syracuse and I hope that he continues to play at a high level."

It's hard to get a good handle on this and there's no way to determine (at least on the outside looking in) if he'll be ready to play against Miami. From the sound of things, I wouldn't count on it.

Spring Notes

Lots of Spring football notes over the past week or so. The themes seem to be focusing on players with increased roles to play.

First up, though, I've never seen an official site for a college team make an official announcement that someone is EXPECTED to join their coaching staff:

CALIFORNIA (April 7) – Although details have yet to be finalized, California University of Pennsylvania anticipates adding Walt Harris to its football staff under the direction of head coach John Luckhardt.

Harris, former head coach at the University of Pittsburgh and Stanford University, is noted for his ability to produce talented quarterbacks. His title and duties at Cal U have not yet been decided.

Wow, talk about being excited.

Now, moving onto Pitt's team:

The guy who may benefit the most from Jonathan Baldwin:

Shanahan's role in the offense might be labeled as a "possession" receiver because, as Wannstedt notes, Shanahan has the ability to hurt teams that underestimate his athleticism.

"He's a big guy who, because of his basketball skills, can position you," Wannstedt said. "If they're going to double-team Baldwin and leave Shanahan one-on-one, the guy covering him is going to have to go up and be able to make a play on the ball, or [Shanahan] is going to beat you."

I'm really torn on how much of an impact Shanahan will make. If he's the starter opposite Baldwin, who will obviously draw a lot of attention, a lot of people are calling for him to have a great season. But with an inexperienced line and quarterback, I don't know how much the passing game will be relied upon. Part of that, of course, will depend on the individual games, if Pitt is ahead or behind, and down and distance. But while I expect Shanahan to have a good season, it will be interesting to see just how much the passing game is utilized. Still, I like his game enough to think that he will make a sizable impact. So how good will he be? I don't know, ask me tomorrow.

And speaking of that inexperienced offensive line, walk-on Alex Karabin could be the starting center. The somewhat surprising thing to me is that he might STILL be a walk-on:

That leaves Karabin as the starter entering camp in August. Even if he does earn the job, he might not get a scholarship. Last season, Wannstedt gave scholarships to three former walk-ons -- kicker Dan Hutchins, reserve quarterback Andrew Janocko and defensive lineman Chas Alecxih.

"If we have one, nothing would make me happier than to give one to Alex," Wannstedt said. "He's deserving."

Karabin would like it, too, to take some of the financial burden off his parents.

I'm sure Wannstedt will do his best to get him a scholarship. I think you've got to find one for anyone who starts for your team.

Shayne Hale and Brandon Lindsey will see time as backups this year.

And of course you've got fan favorite, Henry Hynoski:

After two seasons of being mostly a battering-ram blocker for Dion Lewis and LeSean McCoy, Hynoski is champing at the bit to being a bigger part of the offense.

"I'm thrilled about it," he said. "I love when the ball is in my hands. I was used to that all throughout high school. Now I have the opportunity as a fullback to run, block and catch equally. I'm just thrilled to death about it. I'm just very excited that I have the opportunity."

I love what Hynoski brings and would love for Pitt to find a few opportunities to not only get him the ball in short distance situations, but think they might be surprised if they can find a way to get the ball in the open field on things like short screen passes. That might be unrealistic, but man, would it be scary for an opposing cornerback to try to take him down one on one.

And could little-used Greg Cross turn into this year's Dorin Dickerson - a skill player making an impact at another position? He apparently didn't mind the move:

"I got stuck playing quarterback," he said. "I love (playing receiver). I'm learning every day to go out and compete."

Also, the Blue-Gold game is next Saturday - free admission.

News and Notes

Things are really slowing down and people are starting to get into gear for the season. A few things today...

Brandon Lindsey moved to defensive end and contemplated a transfer to a D-1AA school:

Lindsey contemplated his future while watching classmate Greg Williams develop into a potential four-year starter at strong-side linebacker. During spring drills, Lindsey told Pitt coaches that he intended to transfer to Division I-AA Norfolk State. Instead, the Panthers promised a change and moved Lindsey to defensive end.

It was an instant success, as the 6-foot-2, 240-pound redshirt sophomore from Aliquippa proved to be a pass-rushing specialist who starred in the Blue-Gold Game with four solo tackles and two sacks. He has sacks in both scrimmages in training camp and has taken advantage of injuries to starter Jabaal Sheard and top backup Shayne Hale to take repetitions with the first-team defense in the past week.

Buried in this article is the fact that Tony Tucker is, in all likelihood, not returning. I wasn't aware it had come to that - I wish him the best.

Meanwhile, Wannstedt takes part in a Q&A. I found this particularly interesting:

Q: How has it been seeing them grow as student-athletes off of the field?

A: That's the most exciting thing about college football compared to the NFL. You're getting 18-year old kids and you're given an opportunity to help them make a difference on the field, off the field, really in all aspects of life. I'm so proud of last year's class. We had 14 seniors and 13 of them graduated. 10 of them are in NFL camps. That's exciting. It makes me feel proud that those kids are working hard and accomplishing their goals.

10 of 14 seniors in NFL camps? That sounds reasonably impressive - even if they won't all make the cut...which they almost assuredly won't.

Paul Zeise thinks Joe Thomas could be the ultimate utility-style player for Pitt.

Brian Bennett at ESPN.com ranks Pitt's running backs 7th out of 8th in the league, even though he says they will 'far outperform its current ranking on my list.' Not sure why exactly he won't rank them higher, then. He also later says that Ray Graham or Dion Lewis could win Freshman of the Year. My pick was Lewis, but I'm not so sure about that now.

Oh, and FanFest is tomorrow.