Pitt has its first new verbal since Todd Graham took over. A JUCO Offensive Tackle out of New Jersey named, Zenel Demhasaj.
Now Demhasaj is a 2-star recruit, but when it comes to evaluating JUCO players, ratings tend to be less accurate, plus he has been recovering from an ACL tear. When you factor in Pitt’s absolute need to get depth and fast on the O-line it seems like a decent risk.
Demhasaj was a guy Pitt was actually recruiting before Wannstedt was fired ($$). He’s big. Very big. Mearsuring 6-6 to 6-7 and about 320 pounds.
Plus, some parting shots from a bitter Tulsa journalist.
You all know what Tino’s weakness is.
You can also have Tino as a backup, if he doesn’t transfer…..to say……Edinboro or Slippery Rock.
Kolby Gray from Texas is now a safety. Not sure how much it will take for him to convert back to QB. My guess is he will remain a safety.
That leaves Tino, Meyers, and Gonzalez and any recruits they bring in. Here is hoping they find a way to get Cardale Jones from the Cleveland area.
You can NOT have a QB who blows sure TD passes to wide open receivers who can run unabated to the endzone. Those are game changing plays and when you miss them, they are demoralizing and also game changing…….in the reverse direction.
Speedster WR’s from Texas?
All I want is a fair & honest competition for the job. Meaning they all get snaps with the first team and let the chips fall where they may.
Tino holds the ball too long going through his reads which leads to his accuracy issues. He also does not have the intangibles like the clock in his head or ability to auible at the line. Part of his problem too was play calling – they threw on obvious downs, were predictable….If he can have quick drops, few reads, and a more uptempo style where he can get in rhythm, it will help. But he is clearly not the answer.
2. ryan mallet could not run Richrod’s offense and meyers is more like ryan mallet. Multiple formations and 4 wides will open up some running room for the QB.
We could really use Poteat with only Graham being a proven back. Wonder if there is any chance of him returning to the “commit” list?
I mean I wanted Bradley but I can just as easily say (if he was the choice)…what happens if Bradley mires Pitt into continued mediocrity.
See living in fear can be a two way street.
There isn’t much you can do…if Pitt wins a BCS under Graham and he leaves yes he will take some recruits, but will have left Pitt in better shape than he left it.
That is reality…Pitt has overcome a lot worse than a guy who suceeds and moves on to another job.
DaveD
There isn’t much you can do…if Pitt wins a BCS under Graham and he leaves yes he will take some recruits, but will have left Pitt in better shape than he FOUND it.
I meant to say found not left.
DaveD
it is about time people came to grips with what bradley is – he has zero fire and no track record on his own so the risk was huge. He completely blew his chance with the twitter BS he caused himself. the Bradley sympatizers need to lighten up about Graham’s defense, etc. and join the rest of us in hope. I am getting tired of this crap.
Sunseri’s accuracy and arm strength, even on the shorter passes, was not very good. He’d get off one or two passes per game where people would ooh and aah but those were rare.
I do wonder if he’d be able to handle a no huddle offense where he had multiple quick reads each play. I think it would be too much, but we’ll see.
I always had the feeling Tino didn’t ‘see’ the field. Time after time Shanahan and Cruz and Hynoski would be open in the middle, and he would throw long into double coverage.
However, I always wondered if the dithering on the sidelines could have affected which target he was choosing. Any thoughts on this?
So, yes, coach, univ, confer, certainly would be main criteria, but, a rabid Pete, going nuts, on a big national game is big, remember, these kids are 17 or 18, walk into the Pete on fire, gets their juices flowing!!
Playing a 3-4 or 3-3-5 is OK when you have speed and skill with d backs and lb’s. We are absolutely bare here. Will take time to recruit players for this system. Short term, We will be blitzing and attacking to try to cover our holes and we will give up points, lots of them. If we cause turnovers while giving up points, we can win games.
I am excited abotu being able to recruit all over now with this staff. We were only pulling guys out of western pa and Nj which was good but we need more. Hopefully now we cover eastern pa better where the talent seems to be deeeper than WPIAL lately with more teams in PIAA playoffs getting visibility and expose new areas in south like TX.
The most improtant decision a coach can make is his starting QB, and I get the sense that Graham is going to be able to evaluate our guys and make the best decision for the overall well being of the team short term (and long term).
Wanny, on the other hand, is the equivalent of a cooler for a hot gambler in Vegas, excpet for QBs… whenever he got around them, they invariably began to play worse and underdevelop. Partly due to inept mentoring, negative attitudes, predictable schemes, and likely overrated talent at the position compared to others.
He stunted Palko to the point of irrellevance. He reaches for an overrated QB w/ poor mechanics with Bostick.
He stayed true to D2 level talented journeyman in Stull.
He trots out his friend’s kid who has the arm strength equivalent to someone playiong at Gannon.
He picked up a kid from Cleveland who didn’t start until his Senior year, lost the only big game of his career, and didn’t even get a sniff from Ohio State…probably another reach…
Should I even mention Kevan Smith and Greg Cross?
You get my drift here…
I hope like heck that you are right about these young guys who didn’t get to play but I am skeptical. Be nice if our insider, Paul Zeise, could tell us who he has heard can play / will play for those of us who want to speculate.