Moving On To NFL Cut Day

Several Pitt players made the final cuts as teams trimmed their rosters down to 53 players:

Sixth-rounder Nate Byham is part of the 53-man roster of the San Francisco 49ers, and seventh-rounder Dorin Dickerson survived the cut with the Houston Texans.

Undrafted free agent cornerback Aaron Berry escaped Saturday's cuts after the Detroit Lions released former Pro Bowler Dre' Bly and Eric King, both cornerbacks.

The news was not as good for defensive tackle Mick Williams, an undrafted free agent who was one of the Chicago Bears' final cuts on Saturday.

Also, previously cut were OL John Malecki and Bill Stull lost out on the third string QB job to former Panther Tyler Palko.

Mick Williams made it down to the end and I expect he'll get another shot somewhere else. I was also surprised to see Aaron Berry land on an NFL roster - beating out Dre Bly, no less.

Nate Byham Inks Deal

Former Pitt Tight End Nate Byham signed a four-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers.  The Niners drafted him in the sixth round of the NFL Draft this Spring.

Byham joins several Pitt Alumni out in San Francisco including last year's draft pick Scott McKillop, Andy Lee, and Shawntae Spencer, who's been offering some advice during the recent minicamp sessions:

As a proud University of Pittsburgh alum, Spencer was pleased to see another Panther drafted by the 49ers in consecutive seasons. Spencer approached rookie tight end Nate Byham in the locker room on Thursday to check in and offer advice. “He said it’s been tough and I told him, ‘Just keep swinging. Keep your head up and stay positive.’”

He's also been busy out there making charity visits.  The 49er website has some video up of their new signee.

Catching up with Nate Byham

Nate Byham and Dorin Dickerson are getting ready to begin their pro careers and with the draft recently completed, are both starting to get some press.

To start, Byham talks a little about his family issues growing up:

Like fellow rookie Anthony Dixon, Byham also had to deal with a less-than-idyllic childhood, and was raised by his grandfather. “I've never met my father and my mom has had a lot of drug and alcohol issues and a lot of personal issues throughout my life,” he revealed. “I've been in and out of a lot of houses and a lot of close friends have helped me out. I've always been with my grandfather and he's been a rock and taken care of me.”

Meanwhile, when discussing Byham's on-field strengths, the common theme among articles out there seems to be focusing on his toughness. Coach Mike Singletary sounds sold and even has some plans to possibly move him from tight end from time to time:

I talked to Dave Wannstedt early on in the offseason and he told me a lot about this young man and his ability to really be a physical guy, and really give us some added protection there at the tight end position. I really feel good about what he’s doing. He can also give us some flexibility as an H-back. He can line up and play fullback and go downhill and go and dig out a linebacker.

The Bleacher Report isn't a great news source in my opinion, but some of their lists are pretty interesting. They call out potential dark horse rookies for each team and name Nate Byham as the 49ers pick.

And of course, Byham's role will focus on blocking:

The 233-pound Dixon led the Southeastern Conference in rushing last season at Mississippi State, and the 264-pound Byham was considered one of the nation's top blocking tight ends at the University of Pittsburgh.

Both fit well with the team's new persona. Byham will be used like a third tackle in some situations and Dixon adds size to the backfield in short-yardage and goal-line situations.

But then again, Sacramento Bee blogger Matt Barrows likes what he sees of Byham's receiving skills in minicamp:

I don't want to jinx him, but tight end Nate Byham seems to have underrated hands. He caught everything thrown his way for the second straight practice, including a poorly thrown dart by Brown that was at Byham's ankles.

And if that's not enough, special teams could be in his future.

NFL Draft Recap

As expected, both of Pitt's tight ends, Dorin Dickerson and Nate Byham, were drafted. What wasn't so expected was seeing Dickerson fall so far:

In one of the bigger local storylines that unfolded throughout the day, Pitt tight end Dorin Dickerson, a West Allegheny High School product who is 6-4, 226, was selected by the Houston Texans with the 227th overall pick in the seventh, and final, round. On many mock drafts, and projections done by the many experts who track such things, Dickerson was thought to be a talent who would have been selected much earlier, possibly as soon as the late-second round.

"All I can do now is go out and make the team," Dickerson said. "Everything that happened in the draft is behind me."

I was surprised to see Dickerson fall that far, especially in light of not only the type of year he had, but because his workouts were incredible.

Dickerson was rated in the top ten of most draft lists I'd seen, while Byham was lower. Byham was drafted as the 15th TE, but Dickerson wasn't drafted until 18th.

In his conference call with the media, Dickerson sounded as if his flexibility will be key:

(on how he would describe himself as a player) "I'm a versatile H-back. I could line up in different positions. I could line up in the back field and I could line up at tight end. You'll see me moving around a lot in special teams. Anything the coaches ask me to do, I'm going to do. I'm going to try to compete and win."

RotoWorld calls him a tweener and cites that reason as to why he may have fallen.

And a Houston Chronicle blog says he will start out at WR - possibly as Andre Johnson's backup.

Onto Nate Byham - he talked about his run-blocking and toughness with the media:

On run blocking being his forte:
“That’s what I pride myself on. I like to bloody noses. I don’t shy away from contact. I’m going into the hole and I’m trying to hit somebody. I think that’s what makes me unique. There’s not too many tight ends these days that want to go in there and try to hurt somebody. I’m trying to inflict pain when I’m in there as a tight end. I’m not trying to get in someone’s way. I’m excited to be a part of the hard-nose offense.”

Byham joins quite a few former Pitt Panthers on the 49ers roster including Andy Lee, Scott McKillop, and Shawntae Spencer.

It's somewhat ironic that in a reduced role this year, his blocking may have been the thing that got him drafted. Without it, who knows? The Pitt tight ends coach calls him one of the best in the business:

Pitt tight end coach Brian Angelichio thinks that Byham, who is 6-foot-4 and 268 pounds, is a top option for any team that values a tight end who can help the run game.

“Obviously, when you put the film on, that’s one of his strengths. There are not many end-line blockers across the country. And Nate has shown the ability to do that as well as anybody in the country,” Angelichio said. “If you’re [an] NFL team, you’re obviously looking at him if you’re looking for an end-line blocker.”

And among the teams he worked out for, the 49ers weren't one of them.

Glad to see both get drafted. Still, to see Dorin fall so far was a bit of a shock. So much for those so-called NFL sources that said Dickerson was possibly going in the second round.

Odds and Ends

Real quick hitters as all of this is pretty minor stuff:

The Pitt News calls for Tino Sunseri to start next year.

Former Tight Ends Dorin Dickerson and Nate Byham both worked out for the Baltimore Ravens in preparation of the upcoming NFL Draft.

A website picks Pitt basketball to win it all next year. Seriously.

That same website calls Pitt football a potential sleeper at 30:1 odds to win the BCS National Championship next year.

Pitt baseball is moving on up after a great start to the season. The team is ranked 24th in the Collegiate Baseball Rankings.

Heinz Field, home of the Panthers, is named as one of the 25 best stadiums at night...albeit not by all that strong of a source. PNC Park was also named as one.

Football Talk

So after a long hiatus from football discussion, with basketball out of the way, let's get into it.

For starters, former Panther Elijah Fields could end up at California University. There were some grumblings of this as a possibility almost immediately after he was dismissed from the team and it looks as if it could be a possibility:

Elijah Fields, who was dismissed from Pitt's football team last month for violating team rules, might end up at California University.
Head coach John Luckhardt said Fields has shown interest in transferring to the university. The 6-2, 225-pound safety would have one season of eligibility remaining.

"Everything is still in the processing stage," Luckhardt said.

As much as he botched his chances at Pitt, I still try to convince myself that he's young and still learning. I hope he can turn things around there.

Paul Zeise of the PG thinks that while Tino Sunseri had the first crack at reps with the first team, that Pat Bostick seems to have the slight edge in terms of knowing the system. It's been documented that Coach Wannstedt would like this battle to be settled this Spring. I don't know - with the way last year's competition went on, I'd be kind of surprised if that happened. Both quarterbacks say they're ready.

ESPN.com blogger, Brian Bennett, goes over the usual questions in his Pitt spring preview video. He also talks to Offensive Coordinator, Frank Cignetti, about Pitt's many offensive weapons.

SI.com wonders if Pitt is ready to dethrone Cincinnati. More Pitt-Cincinnati talk. Everything I've heard this offseason has been about Pitt and Cincinnati. I'm a little surprised that it appears West Virginia isn't even being passively seen as a contender with both Jock Sanders and Noel Devine coming back.

Cam Saddler's opportunity to get on the field more comes - at wide receiver: I really think he could turn into a great kick returner and hope his focus remains there. But with the losses of Oderick Turner and Dorin Dickerson, there's definitely a need there for another receiver.

And with all the NFL Draft talk about Dorin Dickerson and Nate Byham getting drafted, after Bill Stull's season and experience with a pro-style system, he is getting some looks as well:

Stull, who was one of 15 former Panthers who worked out Tuesday for scouts representing 27 of the 32 NFL teams, is considered a late-round draft pick or a desired free agent.

After the year he had, I'm a little surprised there hasn't been more discussion about him as a middle-round draft pick. He has experience in a pro system, made very few mistakes last year, and despite his weaknesses such as throwing an accurate deep ball, makes for a reasonable NFL prospect.

Meanwhile, speaking of Dickerson, he's having a hard time gauging where he might be selected because of all the interest he's received.

More to come...

More Football Talk

I found the conversation ESPN.com blogger, Brian Bennett, had with Dave Wannstedt mildly interesting, but nothing much more than that. There was one quote about QB Tino Sunseri in particular causing some buzz:

"He's ready to play now," Wannstedt said. "It's his time. He understands the offense, and we've got a good feel for his abilities and what he can do."

You could take that a number of ways - you could say it's Tino's job and it was a slip of the tongue by Wannstedt because there's an open competition. The other way you could read it (the way I read it) is it means that Tino as a backup wasn't really ready to compete. He's ready to compete for the job now. I don't think it in any way meant that it was Tino's job or even Tino's job to lose in camp.

Glad that Wannstedt plans to have it wrapped up by the Spring as whoever will be the starter will need a large amount of reps with the first team in the Fall. That opener at Utah will be staring us down before you know it.

Bennett also wrapped up his top 30 Big East players of the year and Pitt ended with eight on the list, including three in the top five and the #1 overall player (Dion Lewis). Seems like there were plenty of blockheads ready and waiting to rip apart a top 30 list that concluded nearly two months after the final college game of the year.

Sticking with the draft theme, former Center Robb Houser gets a local story and discusses playing at the next level. A few draft sites (not that I've heard of any of these) offer some ratings: Evaluators believe Houser has a decent chance to find work in the league. For instance, NFLDraftSpot.com rates him as the 12th-best prospect at center. On NFLDraftSpecialist.com, he is No. 18 and a site called WalterFootball.com lists him as 16th.

Apparently Nate Byham didn't look so hot (subscription needed).

And it looks like old Pitt recruit Anthony Morelli isn't giving up on his dream of playing in the NFL:

Former Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli is back, looking for a second chance after getting cut by the Arizona Cardinals two years ago. Morelli, who will be 25 in June, insists he's not just older.

"I've gotten bigger, faster, stronger, I'm jumping better," he said. "I think the chances are pretty good, I just need to get in front of some people."

Morelli will do that next Friday in Indy when he holds a personal workout on the same day this year's big-name quarterbacks, receivers and running backs are measured and take tests during the combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.

He seems willing to also play in a lower-tier league, if need be:

Since getting cut by the Cardinals two years ago, Morelli bided his time by working out on his own, coaching quarterbacks at Pittsburgh's Plum High School and helping his uncle with construction jobs.

All the while, Morelli maintained the dream of playing football. Morelli's wife finally persuaded him to move back to Indy, where he's been getting help from former NFL quarterback Jack Trudeau.

"I'm only 24 years old, and I've played against a lot of these guys in college. So when it comes to age, I feel like I haven't hit my peak yet," Morelli said. "I'm going to keep going until I exhaust all my opportunities, and if I have to go play in a lower-level league, I'm going to do that until everyone tells me to give it up."

And this one's a little off the board, but for iPhone junkies, a special Pitt app, is now available for purchase on iTunes. One is due out soon for Crackberry addicts, such as myself.

Football News

A few football related notes:

Former 1980s Panther Teryl Austin was hired as the Defensive Coordinator of the Florida Gators. He's coached in a variety of positions in college and the NFL with the Cardinals and Seahawks.

ESPN.com blogger Brian Bennett talks expansion - not just Big Ten, but the idea of Big East expansion comes up.

Looks like Dorin Dickerson and Nate Byham are the only two Pitt players headed to the combine. South Florida leads the way with six combine reps.

Conspicuously absent is Aaron Berry, Pitt's First-Team Big East CB. This projection has him as a possible 5th-6th rounder at best. And here's another one that projects him as a 7th rounder. Okay, one more - this one projects him as a Free Agent pickup.

Meanwhile, another former Pitt corner, Darrelle Revis, came home recently.

Looking ahead to next year, Mark Schlabach has Pitt at I think the highest I've seen in any of the preseason polls - #14. Cincinnati checks in at #13. Pitt has some lofty expectations to live up to, despite not knowing who will play QB - Pat Bostick or Tino Sunseri.

Speaking of Sunseri, his younger brother Vinnie, has his first scholarship offer (subscription needed).

And Bill Hillgrove, voice of the Panthers, is lending his expertise to, and I'm not making this up, a camp for aspiring announcers.

Cignetti Staying Put and Other Football Notes

Pitt got good news in that Frank Cignetti thankfully seems to have no interest in the Bears job:

"My return to Pitt last year was the realization of a longtime personal and professional goal," Cignetti said in a statement to ProFootballTalk.com. "It was made even more gratifying by the outstanding season we enjoyed. I couldn't be more fortunate to work for Dave Wannstedt and coach these great kids. Despite recent reports connecting my name with other jobs, I am wholeheartedly committed to being at Pitt and continuing to establish our program among the nation's very best."

The amount of relief for Pitt fans was probably only exceeded by Bears fans, many of who screamed on message boards they wanted no part of him. As I said before, that's good news for us.

A few other random football notes:

The Trib-Review takes a look at the recruting classes with Letter of Intent Day coming up. Pitt ranks 29th according to Rivals.com and as we've heard before, Pitt lost a couple of highly-regarded recruits, that had parents with Pitt ties, to Penn State.

About National Letter of Intent Day, here a small amount of media coverage for it.

Looks like Pitt players had quiet post-season bowl games. Only Dorin Dickerson showed up in either of the box scores, tallying one catch for seven yards.

Now that it's been four years, Scouts, Inc. looks back at the ESPNU top 150 players in the 2006 class and how they've fared. Pitt has three guys on the list - Lesean McCoy, Nate Byham, and Dorin Dickerson. Blogger Brian Bennett also weighs in with his hits and misses from that class.

Tickets for the 2010 season are also now on sale.

Football Notes

With the Georgetown game out of the way, time to get caught up on a bunch of miscellaneous stories floating around:

Dorin Dickerson, Aaron Berry, and Nate Byham will all be playing in senior games to showcase their skills before the draft.

Meanwhile, Mel Kiper has his 2011 (yes, 2011) draft board up already. In it, Greg Romeus ranks as the #3 DE and Jason Pinkston the #5 OT. I don't know if Romeus can repeat the kind of success he had this year. With the loss of Mick Williams, more attention will probably be paid to him. But if he can, he could be a first-rounder.

Focusing on the NFL, here's a fairly unique article/slideshow of the top Big East players currently in the NFL - Pitt has three of them including the top two.

Brian Bennett breaks down the top ten Big East games of the year and Pitt lands in three of them...including, unfortunately for Pitt fans, the #1 game against that Ohio team that shall remain nameless. The game also ranked 3rd in the Big East games of the decade and a certain upset from 2007 was #4.

Bennett also rates Pitt as the #4 Big East team in the decade. I would have probably bumped them ahead of Virginia Tech, but maybe that's just me. And sticking with Bennett and this whole decade theme, he ranks Dave Wannstedt as the #10 coach of the Big East.

Moving from Bennett, Bill Conley of Scouts, Inc. says Pitt's 2010 class is better than its 2009 one.

GoPittfootball.com, the school's satellite site for football, has a nice video recapping 2009 season highlights.

Mark Schlabach at ESPN.com says Larry Fitzgerald was the top college wideout of the decade and the #9 overall player. Along those same lines, Paul Zeise throws out some options for Pitt player of the decade and also goes over yet more coaching changes including the departure of Joe Tumpkin and addition of former Pitt QB Luke Getsy.

But getting back to the original thought about player of the decade. Using his list, I'd rank the top five as follows:

1. Larry Fitzgerald
2. Lesean McCoy
3. Darrelle Revis
4. Rod Rutherford
5. (tie) H.B. Blades
5. (tie) Antonio Bryant
5. (tie) Scott McKillop

The last three were too close to call in my opinion.

Links Du Jour

Long, long day today - just getting to some links:

Looking ahead to the NFL draft, Dorin Dickerson and Nate Byham get combine invites.

After a year of shutting down some of the top receivers in the game, former Pitt cornerback Darrelle Revis finishes 2nd in the voting for NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

The Pitt women have tumbled out of the polls after losing their last three games.

Gary Parrish over at CBSSportsline.com has the Pitt men all the way up to 12th in its most recent poll.

And in the Post-Gazette's weekly Pitt basketball chat, Ray Fittipaldo discusses a number of topics including prospect Maurice Walker, his updated over/under on Pitt's Big East wins, and the likelihood of Ashton Gibbs leaving early for the NBA, and

Jumping ahead to the basketball game tomorrow:

Pitt is 4-0 since the return of Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown.

Ol' Sourpuss, Jim Calhoun, actually gives a compliment that's not backhanded.

UCONN's coach and one of its players can't quite decide on the importance of the game tomorrow night:

"It's not a critical game for us," said UConn coach Jim Calhoun, downplaying the importance only slightly. "It's an incredibly important game for us, as every single game is."

Meanwhile...

"I think for us it's a must win," UConn guard Kemba Walker said. "We need it. I think we need a win right now."

And if you think you needed another reason why tomorrow's game may be a difficult one:

No. 16 Pitt will shoot for a three-game Big East road sweep -- an unprecedented feat for the Panthers since they joined the conference 27 years ago.

Out of Season Football Talk

Hadn't visited Brian Bennett's blog over at ESPN.com in a while and he had some interesting nuggets about Nate Byham playing in the East-West Shrine game, Pitt's Meineke Car Care Bowl ticket sales, and a brief look at returning starters on Big East teams.

The last topic is mildly interesting considering that Pitt has the fewest returning starters coming back next year, but is looked at as a favorite to win the title. Guess that's what two outstanding players can do for you.

Another story that's making it's way around again is the potential loss of Defensive Coordinator, Phil Bennett. This isn't the first time it's been discussed and DPJ over at the Cat Basket goes over the possibility again.

Unlike that earlier story from last year, it looks like Bennett has been mum on the subject as of late. His name is also resurfacing in a lot of message boards around the net, including this one.

Obviously it would be a bit of a blow, even if he's replaced by someone competent in-house, as is being rumored. The defense, with the exception of a few games such as the NC State (38 points) and Cincinnati (45 points) games this year and the Rutgers game last year (54 points), has been very good. Yes, the secondary wasn't so hot this year, but it got better as the season went on and injuries didn't help matters. I hope he sticks around, but the silence makes me expect otherwise.

Well That Was Interesting

I can't be the only one who has a hard time getting a true pulse on this team. I expected Pitt to win a close game, but I purposefully left out predicting a score because I thought it was completely possible that Pitt would lose this game. Add up the facors - Friday night game, on the road, conference game, vs. an offense that has struggled, but still had two possible All-Conference WRs and an All-Conference RB.

Pitt really came out after a very shaky first half and impressed. Yes, the first half was no picnic - the defense was not all that great (even though Louisville only had ten points) and was downright terrible on that first drive. They really tightened it up in the second half and the offense was much better then as well. A few things:

- Holy penalties, Batman. And dumb ones, too. Peronsal fouls, holding, etc. Both teams were guilty, but Pitt has to get this fixed. There's no reason for this to happen.

- Bill Stull was very impressive again and had maybe his best game of the year. 16 for 23, 242 yards, 3 TDs, and again, no picks. For the naysayers, Stull now has 11 TDs and 1 INT on the season. His passer rating is over 159 and has to be one of the top in the country I'm sure. And he's now already thrown two more TDs than he did ALL OF LAST SEASON. That's unbelievable when you think of it. He's really come a long way and there should be absolutely no one criticizing him now.

- And speaking of Stull, he was able to do something I've criticized him for - throw the deep ball accurately. The two big strikes he hit on to Dickerson and Baldwin were right on the money. The defenders made two horrible plays on those passes, but Stull still made the throws. And if you don't think it's possible to miss wide open guys, look for a replay of the West Virginia game on Thursday night - their QB missed two wide open receivers on deep balls.

- Now onto Wanny, the coordinators, and the offense/defense - Again, I think he called a heck of a game. Not sure who was responsible for calling the offensive deep balls, but it was good to see Pitt take shots down the field. Yes, the defense is still a ways away, but they played pretty well tonight if you look at the entire game. 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing is pretty solid. The offensive playcalling has been great. The only thing I might slightly disagree with was Wannstedt going for it on fourth down in the first half rather than kicking a fairly reasonable field goal (of about 40 yards I think). Not sure if that was lack of faith in Hutchins or what, but I would have went the other way on that one.

- I think the stop at the end of the half was big. To hold them to a field goal at that point in the game, was big for Pitt.

- Dion Lewis essentially split carries with Ray Graham tonight. Graham actually had a higher yard-per-carry, but also had the big fumble in the first half when Pitt was driving. I was glad to see Wannstedt talk to him immediately and not get too much on his case. I'm curious to see how the rotation will play out the rest of the year, but we could see another game of seeing the backs basically split the carries. Oh, and Dion Lewis is a freak. Not sure if anyone else caught it, but there was like a 3rd and 2 or something...I don't even remember when it was. But he put on a quick juke in what appeared like it was going to be a loss to get the first down. He made several similar plays making defenders look silly. Five games in and now seeing him against to BCS-Conference Teams, and I'm a believer.

- The more I see Dorin Dickerson succeed, the angrier I get. This guy could have been a big weapon over the past three seasons. You've got to think he could be one of the top tight ends taken in the NFL Draft. And on the other end, Nate Byham has been virtually non-existent, with only three catches this year.

- Cam Saddler is eventually going to break one of those punt returns (assuming his injury wasn't too serious). He seems like he always takes the right angles and it's just a matter of time. That could really end up being a great weapon for Pitt this year.

- Not sure what the atmosphere was like in person, but it seemed like the crowd was really out of it most of the game. I know Pitt eventually ran away with it in the 2nd half, but it didn't seem like it was really all that raucous.

- A great win for Pitt. As I said before, it was much more important that they win this game than the NC State game because it was in-conference. Pitt now gets a mediocre UCONN team at home and should have a good chance to get to 5-1.

- Kind of a side note, but I was kind of surprised to hear one of the commentators say that Pitt was the, and I'm paraphrasing here, 'main traditional power' or something to that effect in the Big East. That may be true I guess, but I don't think fans around the country necessarily see it that way. West Virginia has had more success recently and the year they could have gone to the National Championship with Pat White and Steve Slaton was the best Big Team in a while. I'd have to give that one more thought.

Immediate Game Thoughts

Just got back from the game and wanted to post some of my immediate thoughts:

- Overall, solid performance by Pitt. Yes, it was against a 1-AA team, but for the most part they looked pretty good considering it was a first game.

- Dion Lewis was electric. Again - 1-AA team. But he looked good for a guy playing his first collegiate game. Graham came in the 2nd half a bit and I'm sure going in, the plan was to maybe get him more carries early on. But Lewis was playing so well, there was no point in switching it up.

- The defense looked good. However, there was more than one play where a defender got beat on pass coverage, but the pass was errant and resulted in an incompletion. There were also two plays where YSU converted what I think both were third downs (including one that was 3rd and 17) due to missed tackles. I'd like to see them tighten things up a bit, but all in all, played well.

- The kicking looked good...sense a theme here? Hutchins kicked a short field goal and converted all 5 extra points. However, his real value was punting where he excelled, averaging nearly 50 yards per punt. On the first one, the returner had to back up a good 10 yards or so because it was much deeper than expected. I'm also almost 99% sure I heard wrong, but it sounded like the announcer said "Dirty Dan Hutchins" after his first extra point. Someone please clarify if you heard differently, but I'm completely serious.

- Good to see the offense follow through on the promise of using more screen passes and the TE. Byham didn't get any balls, but Dorin Dickerson caught four passes and had a TD.

- What's that you're asking? What about the QBs? Well, that deserves a whole other post...

Catching Up

I wanted to resist, but here is another QB story.

And, an AP article talks about Bostick's big game success (despite downplaying that he didn't play particularly well in either game other than mentioning his three interceptions).

Links fast and furious today:

Paul Zeise finally analyzes something I've been screaming about - the bowl situation.

And if that is what the line-up really looks like, in a year when the Irish don't qualify for the BCS and thus end up in the Champs Sports Bowl, the second place team will go to Charlotte to face an ACC team but the third place team in the Big East will end up in either Toronto, Birmingham or St. Petersburg against some MAC or Conference USA school.

That's not a very attractive lineup and speaks volumes about the work left to be done by the conference to continue to build itself up and change the perception of the programs in it.

Finally, someone who gets it.

It seems that everyone (at least from articles I've read) seem to think that the Gator Bowl is no big deal. True it's not a BCS bowl, but it's still a New Year's Day bowl and I consider it on that next Tier of big bowls such as the Cotton Bowl. And for those of you who don't think that's a big deal anymore, I would beg to differ. That may be the only college football casual fans watch all year long (yes, there are actually casual college football fans). A day off of work, too cold to do anything else (at least for those of us in the north) - a day full of college football. Outside of the BCS, New Year's Day is really THE day for college football.

Big East fans also weighed in about it.

Meanwhile, Paul also addresses something I discussed earlier (see below) - the use of the tight ends.

ZEISE: Yes. Cignetti has said as much on many occasions. And early in camp -- before Byham and Dickerson were both injured -- it reflected as much. He knows these guys are two of his best players and he said he wants to make sure they both get enough touches to have an effect on every game. Byham will also play a big role in the running offense because he has developed into an excellent blocker.

As I've said, Pitt is likely poised to use the TEs more - a questionable quarterback, no McCoy, solid players at TE...it seems like it's a given.

Shariff Harris is seemingly in trouble. After a fair amount of hype surrounding him as the possible replacement for Shady last year, he seems to have fallen behind at least Dion Lewis, and now may be as low as 3rd or 4th on the depth chart.

Jarred Holley wants playing time.

Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard are going to be a handful.

Craig Bokor is one of the last holdovers from the Walt Harris era.

Here's something we haven't heard in a while - Pitt short on Tight Ends? Well it's only temporary:

Pitt is suddenly short on tight ends, as redshirt freshman Mike Cruz was excused for a second consecutive day for what coach Dave Wannstedt called "personal reasons", and seniors Nate Byham (headache) and Dorin Dickerson (hamstring) were held out of Sunday's afternoon session.

This was a minor note in the Trib's camp review today, but it actually brings up an interesting question. Just how relevant will Pitt's tight ends be this year?

An outsider looking at the circumstances may say quite a bit. With a struggling QB and options such as Byham and Dickerson, Pitt could line up a lot of two TE sets. Sounds like the logical thing to do, but....well, never mind.

And speaking of Dickerson, you've got to wonder how he feels about his Pitt career. He's been moved more times than an Army brat and after so much hype, hasn't really had the chance to prove himself. Couple the handling of his situation with that of super-athletic (so we're told) Greg Cross, and you wonder if Pitt will struggle to land the type of super-athlete this team could desperately use. Not saying Pitt hasn't/won't land talented kids - they have every year since Wannstedt has been here. But when it comes to the Terrelle Pryors of the world, someone multi-dimensional, you've got to question whether Pitt can land someone like that with the way they've handled Dickerson and Cross.

Anyway.

I don't know if Cameron Saddler is the answer at returning kicks, but I sure as heck don't want to see Aaron Berry doing it.

Paul Zeise sees a trend developing, further damaging the little faith I have in Bill Stull, and also answers questions about the possible QB controversy.

Meanwhile, taking a break from camp, Brian Bennett tells us who Pitt's greatest villains are. Yes, one is the old guy.

This and That

Well now, it looks like the football team is setting some lofty goals:

"I remember when we all came in for visits and [in] our freshman season and we all said we need to be the class to put Pitt back on top," said senior tight end Nate Byham.

He was one of the top prospects in the country coming out of high school and chose the Panthers over USC, Michigan, Penn State and Miami.

"We got halfway there last year, winning nine games and all, but we were very disappointed. But we didn't set out to achieve a nine-win season -- we wanted a Big East championship and a BCS bowl game and we feel like we should have went undefeated last year, so that left a bitter taste in our mouth.

"We have the talent, we have the team, we have to go out now and every week take care of business with no letdowns. And we're focused on finishing the job -- if we go 11-1 and don't win the Big East, it won't be a success in my mind, it will be a disappointment."


With football season less than a month away, the Trib-Review spotlights a few players including defensive standout Greg Romeus and his prospects to potentially leave for the NFL after this year.

Despite mock drafts that project the redshirt junior as a potential first-round pick, Romeus said he is doing his best to remain grounded and ignore talk of entering the NFL Draft next spring with one year of eligibility remaining.

"I still have two years left. I play for Pitt. I'm not worried about that stuff. If I'm blessed, that stuff will come later," Romeus said. "That's not a distraction for me. I know where I started. Three years ago, I wasn't a big-name player. I was inexperienced. I'll always stay humble about that fact. I can't worry about the future. I have to stay with the present."

Mock drafts already projecting him as a possible first-rounder? Wow. That's a bit much for me - there's a long time in between now and the end of the year.


Meanwhile, some good news for folks with Comcast. The company forwarded me a press release with the news that ESPNU and ESPN360.com are now both available to Comcast users as part of a digital package.

Football News

Today was kind of a shocker. First I thought it was the Sporting News that had gone batty. Now it's the media, which has gone and picked Pitt to win the conference.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - any team with as big of a question mark at quarterback is hard to pick as a champion. That said, the defense looks good and if the running game can manage the clock a bit, they could surprise some. Still, it's hard for me to pick them outright - I placed them third in the blogger preseason poll in the post below.

And speaking of the Big East, guess who's on Twitter and Facebook?

Recruiting-wise, Pitt landed another one over the weekend in Ohio TE Dan Schneider:

Schneider chose the Panthers over 19 scholarship offers, including offers from Florida State, West Virginia, Colorado, Syracuse, Louisville and Cincinnati. His three finalists were Pitt, Florida State and West Virginia and he made his decision after visiting both Pitt and West Virginia earlier this week.

Looks like Pitt's current Tight End, Nate Byham, had something to do with it:

''It helped a lot to sit down with Nate and get the perspective of someone who's been through this and get his honest opinion of his experience at Pitt,'' Schneider said of their lunch during an unofficial visit this past Monday. ''It was invaluable.''

In the 'not completely meaningless, but darn close' category, you can vote here for Pitt to have a spot in the All-Time Top 40 team (they're currently 37th). ESPN.com has already had their top 40 mock draft and Pitt is not included. Now I'm not normally one for these types of polls, but really - Arizona State? Kansas? South Carolina? Come on.

They're Back

Plenty of interesting football tidbits from Wannstedt's final press conference of the year that kind of came in under the radar after the news of Pitt's #1 basketball ranking.

For starters, it appears both Shady AND Cavanaugh will be back. Many fans might take this as a 'good news / bad news' situation. Obviously, McCoy back can only be seen as a huge positive:

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said today during his season-ending news conference that he expects standout tailback Lesean McCoy to return for his junior season next year. Wannstedt said McCoy and his family had contemplated him leaving school early and declaring for the NFL draft but that all parties decided the best thing would be for McCoy to return to school for at least one more season.

Cavanaugh, however, is kind of a different story...although Wannstedt was quick to point out that he is solidly behind him:

Wannstedt also said there will be no changes on the coaching staff and fully endorsed the job which was done by embattled offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh, particularly with regards to his work with the Panthers quarterbacks.

"Matt has forgotten more about coaching quarterbacks than most of the other guys out there will ever know," Wannstedt said. "And you can quote me on that one."

You can tell he was dying to get that last line in. I don't know. I'm sure Cavanaugh through his playing career and coaching career alone has learned quite a bit. However, his showing in the Sun Bowl certainly didn't help an already rough relationship with fans. He may know quite a bit, but it would be hard for even his strongest supporters to fully support his play calling this year. McCoy saw far too few opportunities in the first half of the bowl game and when Stull struggled on the deep balls and fade routes, it looked like more quick/screen passes might have helped...anything to move the ball. It's hard to be an expert just watching the game on tv, but to score zero points in a bowl game against a suspect defense is borderline inexcusable.

Other tidbits include Stull remaining the starter heading into the Spring, but it will basically be an open competition:

"Tino Sunseri is going to get a hard, hard look this spring, and so is Pat Bostick and so will Billy. We're going to be more demanding at that position than we've ever been because I think we all know that for us to take the next step, we've got to be more productive there and it's going to take a bigger commitment on my part, a bigger commitment on Matt Cavanaugh's part and a bigger commitment on our players' part for that to happen."

I don't think the QB news surprises anyone. Wannstedt clearly isn't too high on Bostick right now. However, it appears the futures of Kevan Smith and Greg Cross may be up in the air for now.

TE Nate Byham (shoulder) and CB Jared Holley (arthroscopic knee) will also apparently undergo surgery while Tackle Jason Pinkston will have an MRI to determine if he needs shoulder surgery.