The QBs

Let’s get the main question out of the way right off the bat.  I didn’t think either QB looked that good.  Don’t get me wrong, both Tom Savage and Chad Voytik had some bright moments and some good plays, but overall after watching the complete practice I was soundly underwhelmed.

To get into more specific issues; Savage is the most inconsistent QB I’ve seen in PITT’s practices in the last six years.  It isn’t hard to see why he is a career 52.2% completion passer as he began the warm ups/drills by completing almost every pass he threw then when things got more formalized with actual pressure later in practice with the 7 on 7s and 11 on 11s drills he faltered.  The passes he throws are beautiful and on a line (more on that later), but just as with Iraq missiles, you really have no idea where they will end up.  Yesterday a few of them landed in the DB’s hands and on plays where there were no WRs within five yards.

Voytik wasn’t  a whole lot better either.   His arm isn’t what Savage brings (no matter what fans want to think) and while he may be a bit more accurate his indecision shows up pretty regularly.  Voytik does well on rollouts and can keep his eyes up field and that is something that usually comes with playing experience.  He completed some good yardage passes like that but other times he’ll throw at the receiver’s feet.  I thought he left the pocket too early on some plays.

Let’s don’t get caught up in the “who is more mobile” argument here either.  Tom Savage is surprisingly able to escape from the pocket and throw while on the run.  He was very close to completing a great deep pass into the left side of the end zone while scrambling to his left.   So Savage isn’t some water buffalo out there.  He’s big and muscular but can move his feet when required.

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Number Four on my list of concerns, five being the least worrisome and one being the most, is our remaining talent at Running Back.

Anyone who has been following PITT football, (and letting our FSU friends in on it), has to know by now our projected starting tailback, Rushel Shell, has taken his ball and gone home.  Actually, he isn’t going home as that is in the local area but going about as far away from PITT, the city of Pittsburgh, home and his fiancée’ and twins as he can get.  He’ll end up in the Pac-10.

Shell was a prime recruit for PITT in that he was a local product and one who set the schoolboy record for yards gained in a high school career.  Not only that, he went to the same HS as PITT god Tony Dorsett and ran to glory on “Tony Dorsett Field”.  Here is a sampling of what he did in his high school career:

“Shell rushed for a state-record 9,078 yards on 1,107 carries (8.2 avg.)…scored 110 career touchdowns, the most in WPIAL history…set a national record with 39 consecutive 100-yard games, eclipsing former Oklahoma Sooners great Billy Sims’ mark of 38 set in 1975…Shell rushed for 200 yards or more in 25 games…in 44 career contests, he averaged 206 yards per game…rushed for more than 2,000 yards in each of his final three seasons” …etc, etc.

So not only did he set PA records but topped some national marks as well.  Seems like he’d be a perfect fit at his local university wouldn’t he? Especially since PITT is a school with a strong track record of putting running backs into the NFL.

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by Lilburn Nole for Chantrant

I’ll be honest from the start here, I don’t think who ends up starting at quarterback in 2013 will make a huge difference. The reason I say this is that I foresee this being a run-oriented team that isn’t going to require the QB to shoulder the load. However, as the “sexy” position and leader of the offense it will grab the most attention from the majority of Nole fans, myself included.

There are already some intriguing stories to consider heading into spring ball. First, Jacob Coker (RS Soph.) has been spotted on campus in a walking boot. There is little to no information on the severity of the injury so it could be a non-factor in his preparation for spring and ability to compete. Second, how much will a commitment to the baseball team prevent Jameis Winston (RS Fresh.) from being on the football field getting reps in his attempt to earn the starting QB job?

Spring opens with Clint Trickett (RS Jr.) as the #1 QB as he has spent the past two seasons as the backup to EJ Manuel. Trickett has an adequate arm, a bit of “gunslinger” mentality, is rumored to do a good job taking on a leadership role, and makes quick decisions. Having been in the system for 3 seasons and around the game all his life as a coaches son (his Dad is the OL coach), Trickett has an excellent grasp of the offense and could be an excellent game manager. He is the smallest and least athletic of the 3 QBs and has shown the tendency to force balls on occasion. Though he is far from a statue in the pocket, Trickett will not be a QB that uses his legs often and makes a defense respect the threat.

Jacob Coker has good size and athletic ability, but we don’t know much about him. He played in a predominantly run first offense in high school, though Coach Fisher was high on him. At 6’5″ 230 lbs he is just about how you would design a QB. Word from fall camp in 2012 was that Coker gave Trickett a pretty good battle to be the back up, so obviously there is not a huge gap in terms of the coaches confidence in Coker.

Jamies Winston is the highly sought after dual threat QB whose potential has Nole fans salivating. Winston has size, arm strength, and athleticism. He has only been in the system for the fall, however, and it will be interesting to see how he does in the mental aspect of the QB position. A valedictorian candidate in high school, Winston possess the intelligence required to grasp Fisher’s offense, though academic ability doesn’t always translate to the mental requirements on the football field. Winston certainly has the most potential of the three QBs, but as Bobby Bowden use to say, “Potential means you haven’t done anything yet.”

Flying home from Houston today. If we could avoid any more transfers or quitting the team today, that would be great.

On the bright side, at least Mike Rice isn’t/wasn’t Pitt’s basketball coach.

So, hey, Steven Adams says that NBA Draft Lottery looks good.

After insisting that he would return for his sophomore season at Pitt, Steven Adams is declaring for the NBA Draft and will sign with an agent, thereby forfeiting his final three seasons of eligibility.

The 7-foot center from New Zealand announced his intentions Tuesday night in a statement released by Pitt’s athletic department. A Pitt spokesman said that Adams is out of the country.

“In discussing options with my family and Coach Dixon, I feel that it is in my best interest to declare for the NBA Draft,” Adams said. “I want to thank everyone at Pitt, including my teammates, coaching staff, the administration and the fans who have all supported me over the last year.”

I’ll never, ever begrudge a kid for turning pro. Especially when he is a potential lottery pick. Yes, he could have come back. Potentially improved and been a top-5 pick. Thus upping the potential earning potential. But he is already a top-20 pick. Likely top-14, lottery. This is a weak draft. Especially for centers.

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This seems like a move born out of desperation by Trey Zeigler, than anything else.

The 6-foot-5, 203-pound Zeigler averaged 4.4 points and 2.0 rebounds in 31 games this season for Pitt after transferring from Central Michigan. Zeigler’s father, Ernie, a former Pitt assistant, had been fired from Central Michigan following the 2011-12 season. Zeigler was granted a special waiver from the NCAA and was immediately eligible at Pitt.

“We will assist Trey in finding the best situation for him to reach his goals both academically and athletically,” Dixon said. “He’s a great kid, hard worker and good player. We thank Trey for his contribution to our program over the last year and wish him much success in the future.”

I’ve said it a few times, but the worst thing for Zeigler was getting that immediate waiver to play. He didn’t have time to get familiar with the style of Pitt’s offense. Spend a year practicing against his teammates. He tried so hard to fit in on the fly that he was too deferential, tentative and stayed on the perimeter. Rather than utilizing his ability to attack the basket. He needed to be a little more selfish and drive to the basket.

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This is Coach Paul Chryst’s entire statement.

“Rushel and I met on Tuesday morning and he informed me of his final decision to transfer. I wish him only the best moving forward. Out of respect for Rushel, his family and his privacy, this will be my final comment on the matter.”

Just a little editing and he probably could have gotten that out in a single tweet.

Shell is supposed to meet with Pitt coaches and members of the athletic department to discuss his potential transfer destinations. All the noise is that Shell wants to go out West to the Pac-12.

My guess is that the extent of the restrictions on Shell’s transfer by Pitt will be limited to Arizona State and the ACC (including Notre Dame). Otherwise I see no reason to limit his choices.

I don’t exactly wish him well, but I’m not going to hate him. He’s made his choice. He will likely say some more stupid stuff in the next year — I mean beyond foolishly getting into it on Twitter with Mark Madden. Otherwise, I will not have much to say on the kid after he chooses his destination.

Shell’s burned a lot of bridges locally with this drama. He’s now put himself in a position where he has no choice but to work harder than ever to build a life for himself (and hopefully his children). There’s going to be a lot less support around him, and plenty waiting to see him fail. Who knows if he can meet that challenge.

This really shouldn’t be a surprise. Rushel Shell has apparently decided that he still wants to transfer.

The destination isn’t confirmed. It’s rumored that it will be somewhere in the Pac-12. I really can’t believe Pitt would let him go to Arizona State, but there are plenty of other options.

Cynically you can make a logical case for Shell to transfer. Think about it. He is a 4-/5-star talent coming out of high school. He plays as a freshman in a partial load, but not much workload .Shows the potential that tantalizes as a number one back.

He decides to transfer. That means sitting a year. Only practicing with the scout team and working out. He then plays one season. At which point he turns pro. Much lower treadlife on his body/legs. As far as his character, he can point to helping hold the recruiting class together after Fraud Graham. Then he just says, hey, he tried but it just didn’t work with Chryst.A perfectly reasonable rationalization.

Is it bull? Perhaps. But it is also a plausible scenario to sell.

The loss of Shell hurts Pitt this year, and perhaps next year. That really shouldn’t be a debate. Losing talent like Shell is never good. Chemistry and long-term, it isn’t so clear. It’s now up to Chryst and the rest of the team to make his loss negligible.

by Lilburn Nole for Chantrant.com

No matter if you’re looking at advanced statistics like the ones found at www.footballoutsiders.com or traditional statistics like scoring defense and total defense you’ll find the Seminoles as a Top 5 defense the last two seasons. However, if there has been one complaint about that Mark Stoops-led defense it would be a lack of turnovers and less aggressive strategy.

While Florida State has been near the top in most defensive categories, you have to scroll down the page a bit to find the Seminoles when it comes to turnovers created. FSU fans will be eager to see if new Defensive Coordinator Jeremy Pruitt (formerly on the Alabama staff) will install a more aggressive style defense with more blitzes and man to man looks mixed in with the zone heavy looks that have been the norm the last couple of seasons.

Pruitt has spent the last three seasons working under Nick Saban, so it is likely he will have been influenced working under arguably the top defensive mind in the game today. While I don’t expect FSU to switch to the 3-4 defense of Saban, I do expect to see greater variance in coverages and more blitz packages. Stoops relied much more heavily on a zone scheme mixing in man to man on passing downs. Saban’s philosophy is to run zone on running downs and man to man in passing downs with zone mixed in. There is no guarantee that Pruitt will continue to incorporate the schemes that he has worked with the last 3 seasons, but as this is his first time coordinating at the college level, and knowing Jimbo Fisher’s respect for Saban and his philosophies, I feel it’s a safe assumption.

Unfortunately, it may be difficult to get a good read on a defensive strategy in the spring as practices are closed and the spring game will most likely feature more vanilla calls both offensively and defensively. However, pay close attention to the player interviews and you may be able to gain an insight into what is being worked on and discussed in practices.

I’ll spare everyone the half-hearted attempts at fake news on April 1. That sort of thing is way too tired to waste time. No Pederson fired. No Dixon changes mind and takes the USC job. No new stadium down in Panther Hollow. No return of the Pitt Script. No NCAA investigation.

The downside is there isn’t much going on at the moment for Pitt. Rushel Shell is maintaining radio silence. Isaac Bennett and Malcolm Crockett were expecting to take advantage of the opening.

“It’s something I’ve been preparing for,” Crockett said. “I knew my time would come. Now it’s here, so every rep, every second, I’m just going to go hard to the fullest and eventually try to start.”

Both saw limited action in 2012. Bennett had 29 carries for 141 yards and three touchdowns. When Shell was suspended for the season opener against Youngstown State, Bennett ran for 42 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries backing up Ray Graham.

Crockett gained 50 yards on 12 carries last season and served as Shell’s backup in the BBVA Compass Bowl, rushing five times for 18 yards.

Bennett and Crockett described themselves as similar running backs, hard runners with a little bit of speed.

“I’m trying to work on my quickness a little bit, and he’s a little quicker right now,” Bennett said. “But we’re both competitors out there on the field.”

Pitt coach Paul Chryst acknowledged the similarities, but appreciated the differences.

“I think each guy’s different,” he said. “I think the similarities are that they both run hard. I think they like the game.

“I think Malcolm, I think he can continue to learn to tempo his runs a little bit. I think he’s sometimes just one speed. They just seem to have a little bit different style. I don’t think I’ve got to figure out exactly what it is, so I don’t spend a lot of time trying.”

Crockett, however, hurt his leg in the second scrimmage. And Demetrius Davis is also hurt.

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