The rosters are set. Blue vs. Gold. Fitz vs. AD. Voytik, Boyd, and Conner vs. everyone else…wait, huh? The setup of the teams is a bit odd. The seniors were divided into two teams and they took turns drafting from each position group in a snake style draft. For example, at WR, Team Fitz took Tyler Boyd, then Team AD took Dontez Ford and Zach Challingsworth, then it continued on from there. Basically, it’s a bunch of mini-fantasy football drafts. By drafting this way, it ensures one team doesn’t end up with 3 QBs and 1 WR like it could if they did it straight up. The downside is we won’t see the first team offense or defense in one piece. That will make evaluating results a lot more difficult because a starter could be up against a walk-on and thus the result may not be indicative of much. Will this be fun? Yes.  The football nerd in me prefers to evaluate though.

It’s odd, but I’m not eager to see Tyler Boyd or James Conner. I know what those guys bring to the table. I don’t now what Reggie Mitchell can do at safety in the new scheme. I don’t know how much the offensive line will miss Rotheram and Clemmings on the right side. There are a few big position battles like WR and the entire LB corps. These are the types of things I’m eager to have answered, but some of them will be hard to see in the game.

There’s still a lot to look for even if the focus needs to be on individuals instead of units. Here are the things I’ll be watching:

1) WRs. The seniors and coaches agree: Dontez Ford and Zach Challingsworth are the two most impressive WRs after Boyd. If one of them can emerge into a legitimate threat it’ll be a huge boon for the offense. I’ll be watching 19 and 80 closely.

2) Voytik’s accuracy. Chad Voytik can throw very accurate passes and got much better at that as the season went on. However, there were typically a few times per game where Voytik threw a pass that had no chance. Whether or not that was accuracy or decision making is hard to discern, but he had too many “what the hell was that?” throws last season.

3) Offensive playcalls. The playbook is still a mystery and the offense will be very vanilla, but things like formations and base calls will be there. Will Voytik roll out more? More screen passes? How will the RB be used in the passing game? Will they use a FB much? Will 3 WRs be more common than 2 TEs or a TE and a FB? Will they use the pistol? Hopefully we get a glimpse of the base offense.

4) On field leaders. Take a look at who’s coaching up his teammates on the field. Last year that guy was Ray Vinopal. With new schemes on offense and defense, mistakes will be aplenty. The guys who get it will be helping those around him and a good sign as to who is leading in some position battles.

5) Standouts. Obviously when Tyler Boyd and James Conner are on the field, special things can happen. While it’s just a scrimmage, you want to see guys stand out consistently with playmaking. Maybe Ejuan Price shows his pass-rushing skills now that he’s healthy. Jevonte Pitts could show why the coaches have him as a starter right now. Chris James may be ready to take some of the burden off of James Conner. Who knows?

6) Adam Bertke. Bertke will be competing with transfer QB Nathan Peterman for the backup job this summer (Peterman could also start if he plays lights out) and is a completely different QB than the shorter and more mobile Peterman and Voytik. This will be the most extensive action Bertke has received in public (and the only  excluding some a few non-media people at practice) since coming to Pitt.

7) Health. Above all else, no injuries will be the best thing possible. A fun scrimmage should be only that.

What about yinz? What are you looking to see? Given there wasn’t a spring game last year it’ll be exciting to see some spring football again. The weather is going to be gorgeous unlike the one at Bethel Park two years ago where I was shivering while taking notes.