Grife, but I’ve dug a hole in the lack of posting. I knew it was going to happen, but it still caught me off guard. The whole back to school thing for the oldest. The little one demanding lots of extra attention during the day because his big sister is gone and his schedule has changed. Trying to get as much stuff done around the house so the wife won’t kill or divorce me halfway through the football season. I’ve got tons of tabs open and no time to post it all.
Okay, quick hitters to get the numbers down.
*Greg Romeus — DE prototype for Dave Wannstedt. Still raw and learning.
*A slimmer, leaner offensive line. I should care more, but I don’t. As long as they actually can run block and pass protect.
*Mailed in local ‘Burgh column by Mike Prisuta. Dave Wannstedt loves Pittsburgh and being the coach at his alma mater.
*LeSean McCoy is a visionary. Check that, he has vision.
*Followed up by Kevin Gorman in his blog. He gets Todd McShay of ESPN/Scouts, Inc. to rate the pro-prospects of Pitt seniors and LeSean McCoy.
*How about recruiting needs for each team in the Big East according to ESPN/Scouts, Inc.
Defensive tackle
Starter Rashaad Duncan is a senior and Mick Williams, who is expected to line up opposite him, is a junior. Further complicating matters, three of the reserves here are juniors and Pittsburgh failed to bring in any true freshman defensive tackles of note last year.Running back
There is admittedly some good news here: sophomore Kevin Collier and redshirt freshman Shariff Harris have some upside. In addition, true freshman Chris Burns, out of Willington Area High School in Pennsylvania, was one of the top running back prospects in the nation. So why is running back a need? Sophomore Heisman hopeful LeSean McCoy burst on to the scene last year and he’ll look to carry Pitt to a BCS bowl this upcoming fall. Although McCoy is a sophomore, there is a real chance that this will be his last year with the Panthers. McCoy has a year of prep school under his belt, so he will be three years removed from high school at the end of the season and therefore eligible for the NFL draft. Behind McCoy is senior LaRod Stephens-Howling. With all of that in mind, don’t be surprised to see the Panthers target running backs again this year.Fullback
Coach Dave Wannstedt will tell you he has the best fullback in the country in senior Conredge Collins. The problem is he’s a senior. Redshirt freshman Henry Hynoski has the size to develop into a dominant lead blocker and effective short-yardage runner, but there are no guarantees. Chris Bova, No. 3 on the depth chart, is a junior.
*Justin Hargrove is buried on the depth chart.
*Freshman Shayne Hale is not ready at linebacker. Hello, redshirt.
*Coach Wannstedt would like another month of practice before playing.
*Foge Fazio will make it a 3-man booth for radio broadcasts with Bill Hillgrove and Bill Fralic.
*Paul Zeise reviews training camp. Hey, big shock, the O-line is still a question mark.
Finally, I left the ‘Burgh before the rise and fall of Mark Madden. Of all the criticisms about him, the one that struck me as most damaging to a sports fan is that aside from hockey and the NFL, he just didn’t care or have much interest in other sports. He was essentially perfunctory about them because he had to, and then just set out to see if he could be counter to the popular opinion to look “controversial.”
He does nothing to dispel that notion as he tackles the issue of Bill Stull being named the starting QB at the end of training camp.
Stull was thus perceived as the starter for 2008 even before the torn ligaments in his thumb had started to heal. Let’s hope that absence makes the heart grow fonder in all situations.
Stull is tough and reliable. Wannstedt often cites his leadership characteristics.
But is Stull really Pitt’s best quarterback? Should the job have been his to lose at camp?
When it comes to pedigree, Bostick has it all over Stull. As a senior at Manheim Township High School in Lancaster, Pa., Bostick was the darling of every recruiting expert. Scout.com rated him the No. 6 quarterback in the country. PrepStar had him at No. 10. Nearly every big-time football school in the nation was interested in Bostick.
Stull, meanwhile, had to settle for making Scout.com’s East Hot 100 when he was a senior at Seton-LaSalle. A fistful of top-notch football colleges wanted him, to be sure. But Bostick, he wasn’t.
Stull came into camp having played in four college games. He’s thrown 28 collegiate passes.
Bostick threw 252 passes while starting most of last year. His stats weren’t great — eight touchdowns vs. 13 interceptions, 5.95 yards per attempt — and he had some frightening moments.
But, given Bostick’s pedigree, one would assume that he took last year’s experience, incorporated it into his vast talents, and benefited from it.
Instead, it seems to have been assumed that Stull somehow got better by not playing.
Stull has, by all accounts, had a dynamite preseason. Maybe he does deserve the job. This season is too crucial to Wannstedt for such a decision to be made cavalierly, that’s for sure.
But Bostick’s ability is too massive to be blithely dumped to one side. That’s also for sure.
Recruiting rankings? He’s fallen back on that to justify whether Bostick should be considered the starter?
While somewhat acknowledging that all reports from the coaches to the beat reporters that were there, were that Stull was the best QB in the camp, he makes it seem that the decision was made without careful consideration. Apparently based on Wannstedt’s declaration after naming Stull the starter that the choice was obvious.
Perhaps even more shocking than the weak argument, is that Madden actually went wishy-washy. He backtracked to say that he is rooting for Stull and actually believes in Wannstedt. Huh? Maybe it just sounds a lot better on the radio.
