Reed is having ribeye steak, asparagus and homemade bread for dinner…
Oh, and four star TE/DE J.P. Holtz committed to play his college football at PITT this evening.
This is a big get for Chryst & Co. in that Holtz is a highly ranked local prospect who was targeted by Wannstedt, Graham and Chryst as a player they very much wanted on the Panthers. He most probably will line up at the TE position for us and seeing the way Chryst used TEs, sometimes in a two TE set, he may be able to contribute sooner rather than later.
Currently PITT has only two ‘true’ TEs on the roster in Hubie Graham and Brendan Carozzoni with converted WR Drew Carswell and converted QB Anthony Gonzalez working into the rotation at that position. I wonder if Carswell might move back to WR as he has the size at 6’4″ and 215 that this staff likes and has used there while at Whisky.
I don’t envision Holtz playing much as a true freshman but one never knows. Hubie Graham will probably get the bulk of playing time at that position and let’s hope he gets more passes his way.
Here is an interesting fact: in 2010 our TEs caught 21 passes; under Graham in 2011 they had 45 receptions. I hope we incorporate the TEs into the offense at least as much as last season.
Personally I really like Brendan Carozzoni and want to see him get more action on the field. He only caught four passes last season but showed flashes of what he can do in the UCONN game when he had three catches for 36 yards.
The big question, at least in my mind, is which of these TEs are going to excel in the run blocking aspect of the position? I think Bostad will incorporate that into the offense more than we saw last season. We really were spoiled with Nate Byham in that role.
There is also the chance that the staff may want Holtz on the defensive side of the ball as he excelled there also. He’s a multi-talented kid who has great athletic ability. Plus he looks like he’s forty years old already so he’ll definitely be able to get into bars without being carded.
Holtz was a Jack of all trades in his career at Shaler as he contributed in many ways:
As a senior, Holtz ran for 337 yards on 72 carries. He caught 19 passes for 332 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. J.P. Holtz says he played mostly running back during his junior season and had 14 total touchdowns (rushing and receiving). He says he can bench 305-pounds.
Holtz plans to major in education and reports a 3.0 core GPA. He is taking the SAT in June.
So, congrats to J.P. Holtz for picking the University of Pittsburgh for his college choice and let’s wish him the best of luck while here.
Holtz had originally committed to play at Penn State then reviewed his options after the Sandusky scandal broke and they had their coaching change.
