Well, technically two weeks and a day, but close enough. When the Big East gets a little attention and the media wax rhapsodic over the lobster and clam bakes.
Generally, I have not subjected which players represent Pitt at BE Media Day to much attention. Mainly because under Coach Wannstedt it was senior-oriented with the star players.
You look at Pitt’s roster, and who has been put on the preseason watch lists, and everything else. I would have expected the possible 3 or 4 players heading to Rhode Island would include Brandon Lindsey, Ray Graham, Tino Sunseri, Lucas Nix and Mike Shanahan.
Not so much.
Oh Mike Shanahan gets to go, but the other two are a bit of a surprise in Jared Holley and Myles Caragein.
Caragein is the only senior in this group, and a strong contender to win the Lobster-eating contest. There’s a danger in reading too much into something like who Coach Graham picked to represent Pitt football at the Big East Media Day.
Um, however…
Mike Shanahan makes sense. He is expected to be the star WR, and was probably Pitt’s most consistent WR last season.
You can make a great case that Holley has been the best player in Pitt’s secondary the last couple of years, a possible all-Big East player and worthy of a lot more attention. Yet he is hardly one of the headline players for Pitt.
The same can be said for Caragein as an anchor on the D-line. Yet, if you were going to pick a rep from the defense, Brandon Lindsey would be the guy you would expect and who the media would want to talk.
The same would be said of Ray Graham and Tino Sunseri. Both are clearly the feature players in Pitt’s offense. This is not to take shots at Holley and Caragein. They are not going to be players who the non-Pittsburgh media will be flocking to speak.
About the only reason I can figure, is that with this group, there will be little in colorful quotes from the players to spin later. And since the media won’t know these guys that well, they won’t get a lot of attention and it will help keep Pitt’s profile low in the national discussion before the season begins.
If Pitt really wanted to have fun with media days, then Cam Saddler would definitely be there.
Here’s a kid who is not only smart and articulate, he has as much as anyone learned to adjust to the new regime. To wit: He now pushes 200 lbs of strapping muscle, up from a slight…yet punishing… 175 lbs or so last year.
And more than anything, here’s a kid who was totally smitten with Wanny.
Well, the hell with summer, this humidity blows!!
Bring on football!!
Lindsay is a at a FB camp for future NFL linemen
Saddler is co-hosting the morning show on the FAN,
and Nix is allergic to shellfish
they’re starving in Spain
