When I end up taking several days away, the hardest thing is figuring out where to begin on all that was missed. Let’s start with trying to fill out a depth chart
Man, Tom Ricketts going down for the year on the first day of practices with a shoulder injury is a blow. I have no idea how good he really is. But he’s an offensive lineman, and Pitt cannot afford to be even thinner at the position. The O-line has been the eternal concern for Pitt every year to start camp. This year is no different. The lack of depth over the years has manifested in another way.
A big problem is that the backup offensive linemen have played almost no snaps from scrimmage. When right tackle Matt Rotheram hurt his leg Thursday, he was replaced by Zenel Demhasaj, a junior-college transfer who redshirted last year at Pitt. When guard Chris Jacobson took plays off to rest his knee, redshirt sophomores Shane Johnson and Arthur Doakes worked with the first team. “It’s time for them to step up,” Hueber said.
These are all kids who at best were on the second-team in practices now being needed to go up against the first team defense. The only positive is that the D-line looks strong, so they are getting good tests right away.
Sorry to abruptly disappear for nearly a week. Lot of off-line activity that kept me from finding any time to give the blog some time. Family stuff — nothing bad — that just took all the significant spare time available. It’s done, so all should be back on a normal schedule.
I’m sure many of you have read the post from Paul Zeize that he is leaving the Pitt football beat for a while, as his son now holds an offer from the school and will be going through recruiting. Zeise is the only one who regularly wrote on Pitt football longer than this blog, so this is a significant change. I’ve enjoyed his work over the years. He has been fair in his coverage of Pitt.
Still he had no choice. There would be an appearance and/or perception of bias with his son holding a scholarship offer from Pitt. Heck, whether his son chooses Pitt or elsewhere there will still be someone ready to use it against him the minute he writes or comments on Pitt now and in the future.
Hoping he gets back to the Pitt beat soon, though. (No offense to the new guy, Sam Werner.)
