Depth up-front. It’s there. At least defensively.
Defensive line coach Greg Gattuso, who coached tight ends that first year, remembers those early days of the Wannstedt era and is almost giddy about the wealth of talent he has to work with now.
“I think our depth was challenged a little bit this camp, but we showed we do have the numbers now to survive an injury or two,” Gattuso said. “Obviously, we want all of our guys healthy, but when we first got here we just didn’t have many options. I’ve been impressed with how well the backup guys have played this camp and the great thing is, most of them still have a lot of football to play here so they will only get better.”
Gattuso said a great example of how far the Panthers’ depth at defensive line has come can be found in the fact that a player like Tyrone Ezell (6 feet 4, 270 pounds) — who certainly looks the part — will almost assuredly be redshirted. Five years ago, he would have not only been put on the field and asked to contribute, he might have been the unit’s best player.
“I always say it takes three years for a defensive lineman to really come into his own as a player,” Gattuso said. “We now have enough depth where we can really develop our young guys properly and don’t feel pressured to get them ready to play a game on a given Saturday.”
One other luxury is the variation of players. This gives Gattuso a lot of flexibility, and it gives opposing offenses a lot to think about when deciding how to block.
The match-up stuff may be good, but it is still up to the coaches to use it. Something the defensive coaches struggled to adjust appropriately in a couple key losses last year (see also, BGSU and Rutgers).
A bit of focus on the defensive backfields as Paul Zeise tries to spell out why he (and presumably the coaching staff) gets so frustrated with Elijah Fields.
Q: I don’t understand exactly what the problem is with Elijah Fields from reading your remarks. Can’t he learn the defenses? Can he not pay attention? Does he not care? We can talk all we want about his “talent” but is it anything more than he runs fast?
ZEISE: I think Pat Benatar would classify Elijah Fields as a “heartbreaker,” because that is what he constantly does to his coaches and his teammates – he breaks their heart. They put their trust in him, they root for him and they believe in him and he seems to find a way to let them down just when they think he is ready to turn the corner and finally realize his enormous potential. A great example was a practice last week when Fields at times was looking like the best player on the field as he flying around and knocking guys senseless. It was one of his best practices. Of course, then near the end in a two-minute drill, he is blitzing on a play and he runs in and knocks quarterback Bill Stull to the ground — even though it was clear the quarterbacks were not live. And instead of taking redirection from coaches about it, he cops an attitude and is promptly sent off the field. It is stuff like that — it is almost never anything malicious but almost always just a sign of immaturity. Another day, he was late for a meeting or something and got demoted to the second team. Again, the he is not a bad kid and I don’t think he is a dumb kid. He knows what he needs to do, he knows where he needs to be — I just think he needs to grow up a little bit and if he does that, then I have no question he is an NFL talent. The problem he has, however, is that time is running out on him and sooner or later he is going to run out of second chances. It really is time for him to get focused on becoming the dominant player he should be.
You know a copy of that ended up nailed in Fields’ locker. Even if he probably reads it and says, “Who the #@%&* is Pat Benatar and where did he coach?”
Anyone else wonder if Buddy Jackson will ever get fully healthy in a preseason to take part in enough practices to be trusted to get in a game? Jared Holley will at least be out there in packages for obvious passing situations. Here’s hoping Aaron Berry is as consistent as he’s been in camp.
Q: Aaron Berry got picked on a lot last year by opposing offensive coordinators — do you see that continuing? If so, does he have the skill to recover and make it stop?
ZEISE: I don’t know that I agree with that completely. He gave up some big plays and I don’t think he had a great year by any measure. But he wasn’t as bad as some people seem convinced he was and he was and is still the Panthers best corner. And don’t forget, he was All-Big East, so he must have done a few things right. And teams certainly didn’t pick on him. That being said, Aaron Berry really had a great camp. He has played as well as anyone on the team and he really does seem more focused this year. I’ve even heard coaches talk about him as a shutdown corner who can take away half the field. I really expect him to have a big season.
The mystery of what is going on with Tony Tucker is still unknown. Pitt has said it is “personal reasons,” excused him and really don’t seem to expect him to return. The kid is from Maryland, and according to the Maryland blog, it seems that there are family things that are in play. So he is looking to be closer to home. Maybe transferring to Maryland or a 1-AA school. Sorry that he’s leaving, but I hope things work out for him.
Then there’s the return game. Cam Saddler and Aaron Smith are battling it out.
The 6-foot, 180-pound Smith is known for possessing the best set of hands among Pitt receivers not named Jonathan Baldwin.
“Aaron makes it look easy,” Saddler said. “I take tips from him every day. He’s relaxed and looks so confident.
“We’re two different types of returners. He has sure hands, and I’ve got the big-play ability. Once I get ‘Aaron hands,’ I think I’ll be all right.”
Smith, however, is haunted by dropping a critical third-down pass against Bowling Green last year in the season opener. Although he played in four games, Smith never saw another pass thrown his way.
“I got caught in a bad situation,” Smith said. “I can’t wait to rebound from that. I had to wait all season to gain their trust back. It’s still up in the air until I get on the field (to prove) I can catch the ball.”
That’s what has kept Saddler from winning the starting punt return job, although he was sidelined last season with a torn ACL in his left knee.
The 5-6, 170-pounder had seven kickoff returns for touchdowns in high school, one short of a national record, and a pair of punt returns for scores as a senior. He averaged 30.7 yards on kick returns and 25.1 on punt returns that year, but he has struggled to catch punts since arriving at Pitt.
“I was never really coached how to catch it,” said Saddler, who is on the first kickoff return unit. “It was just, get back there and catch the ball. Now, I’m getting coached on doing it, and (Wannstedt) wants me to catch everything, so it makes it harder.
“Plus, it doesn’t help that these guys know how to kick. My senior year of high school, it was the center or guard kicking the ball. I knew it wasn’t going over 30 yards, so I could catch it on the bounce.”
Last year, we expected big things from the return game and just ended up with scary. This year I expect a lot more excitement from the return game this year. Almost as scary at times, but also exciting.
