They’re just starting to clog my tabs. Time to clear them out. The profiles, the puff pieces and press releases.

Dorin Dickerson continues to get attention at tight end.

Dickerson and Wannstedt sat down in the offseason and decided that the best place to get him on the field, and utilize his enormous potential, was tight end.

Dickerson said the fact Wannstedt never lost faith in him helped make the transition to another position much easier. And he said that playing the tight end position the way he is being asked — he’ll also line up sometimes as an H-back or even a fullback — means he’ll have plenty of opportunities to make plays.

“Coach stuck with me, he didn’t forget about me, that means a lot to me,” Dickerson said. “Some people say they’ll believe in you and they don’t mean it, but coach proved when he says something he means it and so I knew he was being genuine when he said he wanted to help me get on the field.

“The more I have learned about this position, the more fun it has become. People ask me what I am, I proudly say now ‘I am a tight end.'”

There’s bit about wondering why some tagged him as not a physical player. His injury just before starting at Pitt slowed him down and cost him the 2006 season. In 2007 he was learning a new position on the other side of the ball, and despite training camp predictions of him cracking the rotation never got too high on the linebacker depth chart.

With his talent and the accomplishments coming out of high school, questions will arise when the expectations did not appear to be met. As legitimate as the reasons for the first two years are, they can be perceived as excuse-making. Whether Dickerson was actually tough enough for D-1A or injury prone. Whether he was just a player without a position. Not quite fast enough to be a receiver and not durable enough as a running back. An athlete stuck somewhere.

A player who has all the physical tools and there was never any question about his position, just his head, is Elijah Fields. He’s finally on the verge of putting it all together.

He sat out last season while serving a suspension for disciplinary reasons.

“It was real frustrating, but the decisions I made were my fault,” Fields said. “I’m not going to blame it on anybody else. I want to put that behind me and move forward and play this year and help my team out.

“I’ve matured a lot, sitting out and looking back on things and the decisions I could have made.”

Fields credited secondary coach Jeff Hafley for helping guide him through the tough times. Hafley, in turn, said Fields has shown better maturity by owning up to his mistakes and correcting them.

“He learned how important football was to him by sitting out last year,” Hafley said. “He now understands how his teammates and his coaches are counting on him. He wants to contribute — not just for himself but for the team, as well.”

The article also noted the struggles he had early at learning to play defense versus doing what he wanted because he was a superior athlete in high school. You just hope that the light has truly gone on for Fields and that it isn’t just something to say that sounds good.

The safety, who many are eager to see moved down the two-deep behind Fields and DeCicco, Eric Thatcher has his own story.

Thatcher is unheralded, but his role cannot be underestimated. As the free safety and most-experienced defensive back, Thatcher is responsible for aligning the defense on every play.

“You talk about him being under the radar,” Hafley said. “He’s under the radar until there’s a deep crossing route and he makes a big hit. People who play us know who Eric Thatcher is. I know [the media] likes to talk about some of our other guys, but he’s a leader back there.

“At that position, there is so much that goes into it from a mental standpoint. He’s the quarterback of the defense. He makes the calls, get us lined up. We need a guy like that back there, and we’re very fortunate to have him.”

Being the quarterback of the defense is especially important in a year when experience at the other secondary positions is almost non-existent. The only other returning starter is junior Aaron Berry at cornerback. The two players battling for playing time beside Thatcher at strong safety are Dom DeCicco and Elijah Fields, neither of whom has made a college start.

“It’s a position where you don’t always get the accolades because you’re not going to have 120 tackles or 15 sacks,” Hafley said. “You’re going to be the guy who lines us up and gets us in the right position. Because of that, we make the right play. Someone else might get the tackle or get the pick. But it wouldn’t happen without him.”

We’ve seen in Wannstedt’s first three years that he places a high value on players who know the schemes.

Derek Kinder has been recovering from his torn ACL, and while he has been a slowed getting on the field he has taken care of the other things.

Kinder is a recent graduate with a degree in economics, one of eight members of the 2008 Panthers to have already earned an undergraduate diploma. He’ll be attending fall semester classes with his eye on another degree, perhaps in communications. Regardless, he enters his final season of collegiate football with a better appreciation for his talent and the opportunity it’s given him.

“Before, I probably did take my health a little bit for granted,” he admits. “I’m a lot more determined now to do all the little things that the coaches are always emphasizing. The need to warm up properly, because that helps prevent injuries. I definitely take that to heart, and get my full stretching in.”

On the field, he seems to be getting more confidence in his knee and moving better.

Most years, seeing articles on a walk-on and a near greyshirt looking like they will be earning playing time for the season would suggest that the talent is thin or there were a lot of injuries. Obviously, an injury played a role in one of them, but both actually have some talent. They just had choices and really wanted to come to Pitt.

But Peter Charles Alecxih III is not your average walk-on, and the redshirt freshman from Lancaster known as “Chas” is in the thick of the competition.

“Keep an eye on him,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said Tuesday after Pitt’s first scrimmage of training camp. “He’s probably had as good a camp as any of the backup defensive linemen. … We’ve got probably four guys competing but if I was honest … and said who’s probably made the most plays, it’s probably been Chas.”

Alecxih is among the contenders for a backup spot behind starters Greg Romeus and Jabaal Sheard, a list that includes redshirt sophomore Ty Tkach and redshirt freshmen Justin Hargrove and Tony Tucker. At 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, Alecxih is 65 pounds above his playing weight at Penn Manor High School, where he was a teammate of offensive tackle Jordan Gibbs and turned down a scholarship offer from Connecticut to play for the Panthers.

“Coming in as a walk-on, the other guys were awesome but you felt like you had something to prove,” said Alecxih, whose father owns a company that builds luxury homes in Lancaster County and occasionally flies here in a twin-engine turbo Cessna airplane. “Most people look at walk-ons as if they’re not on (the same) caliber, so that was definitely motivation to come in and prove myself and say, ‘Hey, I can play on this level.’ I want to get a scholarship. It’s a respect thing, but until they’re able to, I don’t need one.

“Give it to someone who needs it.”

Finding the open scholarship a little early was how Andrew Taglieanetti was in Pitt training camp this year, rather than enrolling in January. He is poised to be a special teams player right away.

“He’s about as quick as any player we have on the team, and he uses it in the right ways,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “Right now, I’ve got him starting on possibly two special teams on opening day.

“From a special teams standpoint, he’s been the most exciting guy of the freshmen. He just wants to play.”

His twin brother Jon is also on Pitt’s team as a preferred walk-on at linebacker.

Finally, Johnstown loves the local connections.

Senior LaRod Stephens-Howling, redshirt sophomore Scott Corson and redshirt freshman Wayne Jones can provide some comfort and stability for Bishop McCort graduate Mike Cruz, Greater Johnstown alumnus Antwuan Reed and Richland grad Marco Pecora as each goes through his first season with the Panthers, who are ranked 25th in The Associated Press preseason poll released Saturday.

“It’s definitely fun to have someone you know here,” said Jones, who is in his first season as a mentor. “I was excited to hear that they were all coming down to Pitt. We’re all working hard toward the same goal.”

That would be getting the Panthers back on track – none of the local players has experienced a winning season at Pitt – and developing individually.

“When you come in, you have a lot of questions about camp and school,” said Jones, who is going through a transition of his own, switching to center this season.

Corson is in a similar situation, as he is playing defense for the first time at the collegiate level, but he still has time to help the newest members of the program learn the ropes.

“That’s exciting,” he said of having three more local players on the roster. “More guys keep coming. (I try to help out) with all of them. When I got myself ineligible, that’s a hard hole to get out of. I got my grades together and I’m trying to show them the importance of that.”

Every news outlet loves to cite the local connections.