The ever popular Paul Zeise Q&A is out. If Pitt is bowl bound, he’ll be keeping the Q&As going through the game. If not, the last one will be in early December.
Q: Will Pitt use Darrell Strong more in the future? And do you think the tight end will become a bigger weapon when Nate Byham gets here?
Zeise: Yes, Strong, Buches and Byham will be major weapons for the Panthers in the passing game next year, but I would argue that the tight end is more involved in Pitt’s offense this year than you think. Last year, Gill, Buches and Strong combined to catch 36 balls (and Strong was a receiver so his four shouldn’t really even count). This year the three have 49 receptions and would have about 55 if they would’ve come down with all of the balls they should have. And that’s with Gill being used more for his talents as a run blocker than as a receiver and with the team passing a whole lot less. In fact, if you look at it, the tight ends are a much bigger part of the passing offense percentage-wise than they have been in a long time. Last season Pitt had 232 passes completed which means the tight ends (including Strong) accounted for only about six percent of the team’s receptions. This year they’ve accounted for nearly 30 percent of the receptions (49 of 170). They are indeed a much larger percentage of the offense than they have been in a long time and they will get even more work as Strong and Byham gain experience and prove they deserve more touches. Matt Cavanaugh said earlier this year that he’d like to see the tight end position get somewhere between 60 and 75 catches (at a minimum) each year – which means the tight end will play a big role for the Panthers for a long time to come.
Interesting. Of course his math is off. 36 out of 232 is 16.4%. Still the point is well taken. Obviously, Pitt is throwing less, which isn’t a surprise. It also means that Pitt is not throwing nearly as deep if the TEs are seeing proportional and actual increases in the number of passes coming their way.
It’s difficult, though, to compare the offense from last year to this year. Last year, Pitt averaged 78.4 plays/game in the season. This year, it is down to 67.5. To be fair, the number of plays run by Pitt’s opponents are down by almost the same number: from 81.2 to 70.0.
It’s hard not to look ahead to next year and wonder what the offense will be like. The talent that should be there at TE. Then the possibilities at WR with Lee, Kinder and Dickerson. The weapons will be there for the passing game. It’s a question of whether they will be used.
In Zeise’s notebook column he wonders about whether it is good or bad to have the extra time off before a big game. It is the wrong question. It’s like asking whether an IPA is a better beer style than a stout. Obviously it depends on many things — the quality of the beers, the time of year, personal tastes, any food being consumed with the beer.
For Pitt, the break can only help. It’s not like Pitt was clicking on all cylinders and the extra time could disrupt the delicate rhythm they had working.
