The Tony Gonzalez experiment continues into yesterday’s practices and it looks more and more like both he and the staff are getting comfortable and excited about what he can do there. The P-G Red Shirt diaries has a photo of him on a blocking sled and the Trib has a more detailed article about the QBs and of the trickledown effect this move has started.
Gonzales himself has duct tape over his mouth because of his suspension but his TE coach has this to say: ‘Tony Dews admitted Gonzalez “had some reservations (about the move), but excitement at the same time.” “It was one of those things,” Dews said. “(He said) ‘I’ll try it and see, but my heart is at quarterback.’ He still wants to be a quarterback. It’s hard to give up.” Dews is excited about Gonzalez’s potential at H-back. “He has the potential to be one of our best athletes on offense.” Could this be a Dorin Dickerson type move without the three years of indecision first?
Anderson and Myers still rotate at #2 it seems and Myers had a good day throwing in practice but Anderson did some exciting things with both his arm on deep throws and his legs on running plays. That #2 spot going to be a very interesting thing to look for when the team comes out of seclusion before the Buffalo game.
The Mystery of Dan Mason continues to play out. Either he’s in going to be watching football instead of playing it for the rest of his life… or we may see him play this season depending on what day of the week it is. “While the ligament damage was certainly traumatic, the stretch in his peroneal nerve is what threatens to keep him on the sidelines permanently. Because of damage to that nerve, he cannot lift his foot up. Until that function returns, doctors cannot clear him to play football.” Yet the staff allows him to dress, be on the sideline and have watched him sneak onto the field. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen if things go south on one of those plays.
Coach Graham had nice things to say about the new RBs on the roster so what was a real concern going into spring practice maybe a strength once the season gets underway. ‘“Corey Davis had an outstanding day; he broke about an 80-yard run. Isaac Bennett had an impressive day too and also broke about an 80-yard run. We left both Corey and Isaac with the ones today and I was really impressed. They both stood out and are really getting better.” Ray Graham and Zach brown will be the workhorses no doubt but some others will see the field also.
He’s also happy that his second string WRs are rounding into shape; Salath Williams especially.
You may also want to check out Chris Peak’s pantherlair.
Kyle, I know you military types are used to getting up early but the ND kickoff is 10 a.m., mountaintime .. just so you know. (This has caused much grief to many on this site)
@Kyle… you might also look up stub hub. The problem with them, is the ticket prices are extremely high and over priced right now. If you are able to wait till a couple of days before the game, they will be down significantly. Now if you have plans in bedrock, and want the tickets in hand…….
I will tell you, I have used them for extra Pitt, Steeler and concert tickets and never have had a problem. You will still pay more, but down significantly closer to event. Good luck.
if that creep Shapiro didn’t put some kind of ‘bounty’ on knocking him out of the game. As it has come to light, that Shapiro routinely paid as much a $5000 to any Miami player who could knock out this player or that player ‘out of the game.
Meaning injure him.
I also seem to remember one of our star players, might of been Larry Fitzgerald, being knocked out of the 2002 or 2003 game Pitt played in the Orange Bowl with Rod Rutherford at QB and came close to winning the game.
Anything is possible after reading about this pint sized scumbag Shapiro who is being called,
Little Caligula by folks in Miami in honor on that infamous sadistic insane Emperor of the Roman Empire.
Miami at Pitt (winner goes to the Orange Bowl)
Pitt played timid all game. Almost afraid of Thug U. The great Larry Fitzgerald’s last game at Heinz Field. Didn’t catch a pass until the 3rd quarter and had a grand total of 3 catches for 26 yards. With 1 catch and 18 of those yards coming with 2 minutes to go in the game. Larry played scared. Who was matched up with Fitz, ….well it was Antrel Rolle, who just happened to be one of Mr. Bounty mans(Shapiro) favorites.
Wonder if Rolle got a nice payday that night and I wonder what kind of threats were relayed to Fitz that night.
Thanks for the commentary Perry Mason.
Coach Graham runs a no-huddle form of a spread. He is not going to change his system.
In the future, he’ll be recruiting qbs for his system, like Voytik.
Myers, unfortuneatly is caught in a tough situation. He will go with Sunsersi, Anderson or Gonzalez.
I, like many, still don’t know a lot about Coach Grahams offense, but, from what I’ve been reading, qb has to make quick decesions, option plays, fake option-drop back, pitch outs on reverses. Myers is a classic pocket passer.
Again, really good points, but, in college, a coach very rarely has ever changed systems. Oh, maybe if you have a workhorse at rb, you give him the ball more, or if you have Peyton Manning, you throw more.
But, to overhaul your whole system and philosophy is not going to happen. Especially for a redshirt freshmen.
The answer? Probably not going to see Coach Graham ever recruit a qb like Myers.
On the Thug U front, former Pitt de-commit never did much at Thug U, Andrew Johnson is implemented in ThugUGate.
On the Thug U front, former Pitt de-commit (never did much at Thug U), Andrew Johnson is implicated in ThugUGate. Although the loser wasn’t exactly on the A List. Somebody took pity on him and hired him to pick up jockstraps at West Allegheny HS.
How have I missed the “biggest point of all” when its the only point I’ve discussed? I believe you’ve confused ‘not agreeing’ with ‘missing the point’ — sort of like when someone says, ‘see what I’m saying’, thinking that means, ‘I’m right and you agree with me?’…when it really is just slang-ish for, ‘do you understand my point?’
And to the option read/mobility issue, Tino ain’t all that fast or athletic, and Myers looked pretty quick to me on his highlight reel…so not sure why he’s automatically considered a lesser athlete. Tino didn’t even look more mobile than Stull or Palko, and those guys would be considered largely pocket passers? I think we got hung up on labels and ‘systems’ too much and not enough on who makes plays.
I like the fiesty nature of the board though. September 3rd can’t come soon enough. It’s been a long time since everyone has been pulling in the same direction.
While the Eagles looked bad, in their returns to Heinz Field ..
Shady: 4 carries 25 yds, 1 rec 12 yds
Dion: 2 carries 19 yds, 2 rec 48 yds … but lost a fumble
These two along with OL M McGlynn stopped by Pitt practice yesterday, and Shady was quioted in Philly paper on how much he misses Pittsburgh.
An article in Plain Dealer the other day about Jason Pinkston pushing to start at OT, and a previous article how J Sheard is being schooled in practice by all-pro OT Joe Thomas (not that Joe Thomas) but is showing a lot of promise and wil probably start at right DE (he played mostly left DE at Pitt)
Dan above is correct. Graham will not recruit any QBs that don’t fit the mold that he’s looking for and we’ve seen that type he wants already with Trey Anderson and Voytik being brought in. Graham absolutely won’t overhaul the offense that he has had success with in the past for a QB who is already on the roster but doesn’t match the criteria. The QB in Graham’s offense HAS to be a running threat on almost every down.
I’d have loved to see Myers in DW’s offense but in my opinion he won’t play much at PITT unless it’s through injuries to others.
But, strange things happen in training camps especially when you throw in a QB’s suspension and possible move to another position. It would be pretty amazing for a true freshman walk on to grab a #2 spot right off the bat and the staff may not be comfortable with that. Maybe Myers gets that back up role if Gonzalez is too good not to have on the field elsewhere, but I’d bet that if Sunseri goes down with a long term injury someone other than Myers will start.
– it seems quite apparent that the QB in this spread will be often throwing from a rollout position, many time on the run .. as opposed to a 3 or 5 step dropback used ina pro set.
– While in high school, Anderson has a couple of years expereince running this offense. Myers did not start his junior year in high school but ran a pro set as a HS senior, and practiced ina pro set last year. Thus, one can argue that Anderson is the experienced QB here.
– once last thougt (and pure conjecture). Most teams are right-handed teams in that whether pro set or spread, the hand-offs and the rollouts are to right side since most QBs are righties. It could be that Graham’s offense has a righty flow to it which would put Myers at a disadvantage.
Clarification to previous post — Pinkston scheduled to start for Browns tonight at guard (not tackle) due to injury to their starter
It’s the right blend that counts…talent and system. You need the right coaches to exploit the talent, the right talent to play as a team, and the right system to exploit your opponent’s weaknesses.
If it was all talent, then Messi and Argentina would always win the World Cup or the Pens and Sid the Kid would always win Lord Stanley’s. Both Barcelona and the Pens are great examples of system and coaching. Talent needs those two things.
Now to debunk the falsehood surrounding the Pitt QBs. Of the 3 QBs Myers was a 4 star rated quaterback rated 13 best at his position. Gonzalez and Sunseri were 3 stars 23 and 26 rated by Rivals look it up. Of the three only Myers was recruited as a quarterback, both Gonzales and Sunseri were recruited as athelets possible QBs or other positional players. Sunseri backed out of Louisville for the same reason the quarterback Fitzgerald suffered with for two years. Pitt wrongly guaranteed him a shot at QB when Penn State recruited him hard for a linebacker. If he went to Penn State he might be in the NFL now. Finally this crap about Myers not starting until his senior (that year he was Ohio player of the year and number one quarterback). The reason is why H.S. is hardly an indication of success in college for football or basketball players, H.S. coaches. They are paid to win. At Myers school they had a Sunseri and Gonzalez type quaterback on a perennial powerhouse. He was a year ahead of Myers and won the state chamionship but was not recruited by any BCS schools. Do anyone think any H.S. coach in the country is going to move that upperclass QB to another position and change the style of play to get a better college style quaterback the position.
Unarguable if Alabama and Oklahoma started Sunseri at quaterback they would lose 2 or 3 more games this season.
I have not seen Myers nor Gonzales. But I have seen Sunseri play for a year and he was not and never will be anything but a marginal QB. I blame Winestat for last years season for the same resons I am not sold on Graham. You play your best players even if they are freshman you might loss a couple of games in the begining but my December your far ahead of where you would of been. Last year Pitt in my opinion had a team that could contend with anyone except with Sunseri who was the reason for each loss. If their was anything truthful concerning they evaluation of Myers arm strength and accuracy (6’4′,230lbs)we could not have lost any more games than we did. Remeber Sherrill had the courage to start Marino after 3 games into his freshman year. No one is saying he is a Marino but probably a Flacco.
I would date the babe willing to go to bed with me. The babe that wins in the bedroom is the babe I’d pick.
Reed — if you have access to practices then I guess you’ve seen some things. But unless my lying eyes were tricking me, Tino looked to have average speed and athleticism last year, to go along with a below average arm. Anderson looks like a winner to me and I hope he gets a fair shake too, but Myers will strike fear into opposing defenses for the 40 yard strike, which does wonders for your run game, and underneath passing game. If you carefully consult my comments again, you’ll see I never argued its only about talent — just that talent was more important than systems. If he wants to run the wishbone ala 1985 Oklahoma and goes 12-0 with it, cool…just think its better to have a serious passing threat to accompany a great running game.
Every coach has a system. Pro-set, I, option, multiple, spread, etc. etc. Sure, you can adjust a little, but, I’ve never heard of a coach changing their whole system for one player?
I would think the main thing Coach Graham wants to do, whether he wants to be here long term, or spend 3 or 4 years and move on, is too win games.
He owes nothing to Sunersi, or any of Sunseri’s family or friends. I would think he looks the best right now. If he has any type of ego, which all coaches do, he certainly isn’t going to give one iota of influence to some alumni saying “hey, give Sal’s kid the starting nod”. That’s a moot point. If Sunersi starts, it will have absolutely nothing to do with him being “Sunseri”.
As a matter of fact, I’m sure he’ll be on a short leash if he doesn’t look so hot in the first couple of games.
Like a team improves the most from the 1st game to the 2nd, a QB usually shows the most improvement from the 1st year to the 2nd.
I’m not a defender of Sunersi, I criticized him last year, but, I’ll give a couple games to see if he has improved.
As you said, and it is true, you can’t just judge Myers because of only one year, the same can also be said of the recruiting star system, it is not always an accurate barometer of how a kid is going to turn out.
If Myers is as slow, and not picking up the offense like they say, then???
Besides, maybe he will do what you suggest, with Voytik coming in. None of our qb’s are long for the field if he’s as good as they say.
I am excited by what I hear from Graham and from people have have met him personally. I even spoke with the father of a current starter and the players speak highly of him. That fact alone will allow TG will get more out of his players.
Go Pitt!!!
Again, Myers has some very good skills but not the combinations of arm and legs that is needed to make this offense run well. If Gonzalez could pass as well as Sunseri he may well have been able to push for a starting job. Before Anderson came onboard Gonzalez was the best running QB we had.
Anderson is a wildcard now as his passing is pretty darn good and he runs well – plus he’s very comfortable in this offense from HS. They got him to PITT for a reason.
As far as changing a system to fit one player… in the first place there is no one on the roster who a coach would do that for. Myers is a good QB, but really, he isn’t a lock to be better at PITT than Sunseri is. The staff looked at experience (Sunseri 2010) and the combo of skills they want back there, again, Sunseri fit better than the other two QBs.
I have no idea how well Sunseri will play this season but I think he’ll be OK. I do hope that Graham will pull the hook if that isn’t the case though.
So, there you go.
According to Dan above (encouragingly), even Graham sees you work with what you got…not a dummy if he wins 10 games a year apparently.
He has always had excellent observations and good inside info.
Even the “I” formation is a system. Everyone uses a system of some sort.
Again, believe the guy wants to win, and he’ll have qb’ing the guy who can score him the most points. If Sunseri sputters, he doesn’t seem like a guy that’s gonna wait all season to figure that out.
Good debating, two weeks away, we shall see!!
Hail to Pitt!!
I have also said on here that if I were coach and Sunseri went down I might want to have Myers as my second string because I think with Ray Graham the running game is in good shape and I’d want the passing game to carry its weight.
But the observations that I write on here are what I believe Todd Graham, Magee and Norvell are thinking and doing – not what I want them to do. I read the same things you do and watch the same videos so I’ve not once proclaimed myself any sort of an expert.
But when Graham names Sunseri the starter early on, then practically begs Trey Anderson to come to PITT and gets him second string snaps as soon as possible and the first QB he recruits is in that same run/pass mold as his past QBs and Anderson, it isn’t hard to figure out what Graham wants for this offense.
And I do like Myers’ skill. Put it this way, I really wish DW could have recruited Myers four years ago… I think he would have thrived in that offense. If he gets into a game this season I’ll want him to rack up the scoreboard with his arm. I just don’t see him being the starter in this offense unless something drastic happens.
