Geez, a couple days worth of stories have piled up as the practices have progressed. As that happens, things become a little clearer on the depth chart.

On the O-line, as late as Friday, the coaches were talking like Jason Pinkston wouldn’t make it to 1st team on the depth chart until much later in the training camp.

“He is a guy who last year was slated as a starter and started a few games before his shoulder injury took him out of the lineup and he had to sit out,” Cavanaugh said of Pinkston.

“He is a little behind the eight ball because he missed so much time and wasn’t able to practice all spring, but I think he gets the message right now that he is working with the second unit and he has to work his way up to that first unit.

“Ideally, he’ll come on and start dominating people like he can and get back into the starting lineup.”

Well, it didn’t take long at all for Jordan Gibbs to give way to Jason Pinkston at Left Tackle . Gibbs will be the primary back-up, very likely playing at both tackle spots, but it is telling that Lucas Nix is already playing behind Thomas at RT.

Nix, of course, was one of the top offensive linemen recruits in the country. As much as Coach Wannstedt loves to redshirt freshmen — especially for the lines — and there were rumors all spring and summer that Nix will be academically shaky (which would be another reason to redshirt him so he can get better acclimated to the student side without as much athletic pressure); that Nix is already looking to be on the 2-deep after only a week.

Starting Friday — after Wannstedt criticized them publicly — the QBs responded.

…but the offense looked drastically different today.

For one, the quarterbacks actually had time to finish their drops and spot receivers. For another, they actually completed the majority of their passes. And, for the most part, the receivers caught those passes. Some even found their way into the end zone.

…

We mentioned Sunseri’s TD passes in the morning post, so let’s start with Bostick. I’ve noted that his physique has been radically altered, and it’s certainly had a positive affect on his footwork. His arm is still suspect, but Bostick makes up for it with his smarts and soft touch.

He’s moving better in the pocket, and ran one nice play-action fake to find freshman receiver Mike Shanahan for a 20-plus-yard gain. Bostick also threw a scoring pass. More on that later.

At the end of practice, during the two-minute drill, a Bostick pass bounced off the hands of Shanahan and into those of middle linebacker Max Gruder for an interception to end the day.

And Coach Wannstedt appropriately praised them afterwards.

Opening Statement:

“The best thing between this morning and afternoon was quarterback play overall, and they all played, with Billy Stull and Pat [Bostick], both up in the 80 percentile as far as completions, and that’s where they both should be in my opinion when we’re out here practicing and not scrimmaging. I think both guys responded the way you’d like them to. Kevan Smith was better today, Greg Cross, and I’ll tell you, Tino Sunseri made two throws this morning that were as good as any throws we’ve had from starters. I was real encouraged how the quarterbacks as a group responded after the first few days. That gives us a chance to have an upbeat practice. There were no interceptions, except at the end and that was a tipped pass. No mistakes. We got rid of the ball quick and that helps the practice go smooth. Tomorrow we go with the entire team. No practice in the morning, full practice in the afternoon and I would expect another surge of energy now that we are all back together. I look forward to that. We’ll have some live stuff tomorrow, a live inside drill for sure. This will be my 34th first day of pads, live inside drill.”

…

On the factors that led to the improved quarterback play today:

“I think it’s a combination of them responding, blocking a little better. The plays that we put together probably gave them a little better chance to be successful. [Jonathan] Baldwin made some plays today, [Mike] Shanahan made some plays today, [Cameron] Saddler made some plays. It was good to see. That’s three outstanding freshman receivers. That’s a unique group right there.”

I think Coach Wannstedt knows that the O-line (at least right now) looks average at best. For LeSean McCoy, that should be more than enough for him to have a bigger year. While even average would be a step-up from the past couple of years, I don’t think Wannstedt wants to let the QBs be able to use that as an excuse.

As for the defensive side, it just keeps reading that there is such depth all over the place (well, maybe not as much as safety, but even there it looks strong).

— Although the starting safety jobs are being held down by Eric Thatcher at free and Dom DeCicco at strong, Wannstedt didn’t rule out the possibility that we’ll see DeCicco and Fields together at times.

“Elijah is such a good coverage guy, we’re talking about using him in some nickel and dime situations to get both of those guys on the field,” Wannstedt said. “Most definitely.”

— The inside-run drill saw Belle Glades products Tommie Duhart and Rashaad Duncan lined up next to each other inside, and they wasted no time blowing up a play to drop McCoy for a loss.

Pitt has such depth at defensive tackle that you might see the Panthers go big (Duhart and Duncan), small (Mustakas and Mick Williams) or a combination (Duncan and Williams or Duhart and Mustakas). And that’s not even counting Caragein and Bokor.

— Nate Nix made a big hit to break up a pass intended for fullback Henry Hynoski, and Nix is an intriguing position. He could stay at weak-side linebacker, where he is contending with redshirt freshmen Tristan Roberts to back up Shane Murray, but it wouldn’t come as a shock to see him move to defensive end to add depth now that Fulmer is hobbled.

…

— Defensive end Ty Tkach came around the left side to drop Stephens-Howling from behind for a loss. After spending the spring at tight end for depth reasons (Byham and Pelusi were injured and Dickerson was new to the position), Tkach is another end taking advantage of his increased reps with Fulmer out.

…

— One twist to the second-team defense was that the linebacker corps consisted entirely of redshirt freshmen, with Max Gruder in the middle flanked by Lindsey at strong-side and Roberts at weak-side. That might have just been for Pitt coaches to get a look at them behind a veteran line.

The other combinations we’ve seen include Steve Dell at middle, with Nix at weak-side and Greg Williams at strong-side. It will be interesting to see how the competition plays out, especially with Gateway All-American Shayne Hale in the mix in the middle.

You get the feeling Coach Wannstedt, DC Phil Bennett and the rest of the defensive staff just start to get a little silly in the late-night meetings when it comes time to discuss who plays where and when and all possible permutations. They’ll just throw some things out there and see what happens.