Opportunities and injuries are the idea.
With Lee out for a few days, the other receivers have an opportunity to make a move on the depth chart, or even win the #3 receiver role.
With Lee out of action, two or three of the other receivers in the mix — Joe DelSardo, Marcel Pestano, Terrell Allen, Derek Kinder and Kelvin Chandler — must step up.
“It’s an unfortunate situation (with Lee), but I think it’s gonna make the receiving group come together more until we get him back,” DelSardo said. “Maybe it’s a way for some of us to show, “I can step up and be the guy that Tyler can go to later (this season) if Greg is out for a play or if something happens.’ “
I realize Del Sardo to some degree has to prove himself again, but he still seems safe as the #2 or even 3 if one of the others takes the opportunity. This is a big chance for Terrell Allen who many thought would be better than Lee, until he got hurt.
Senior Dale Williams has been moving around on the line and is trying to snare the starting Right Guard position.
There was no warning on the day earlier this week when Pitt senior Dale Williams was moved to the right guard spot — a position he had never before played — with the first-team offensive line.
“When you get a shot with the 1s, you’ve got to pick up your game and do your best,” Williams said. “There’s no reaction. There’s only doing.”
So far, he is making the best of it.
John Simonitis, a three-year veteran at right guard, tweaked his hamstring Wednesday, about two hours into the first workout of the season. That meant Williams, who missed spring drills while recovering from knee surgery, suddenly found himself in a new role.
“I think I stepped in and did a good job,” Williams said. ” I have to pick up technique — little things like step and hand placement. A lot of that stuff is so much different at guard than at the tackle spot.”
Then again, this is not the first time Williams has had to learn on the fly. In the middle of the game last season against Connecticut, after Rob Pettiti went down with an injury, Williams was switched from right to left tackle.
If Williams can get a good handle on the Guard position, he has a better shot of being on the 1st team considering Spencer and McGlynn seem to have locked down the Left and Right Tackle. At the very least, the versatility of learning the Guard position as well, would make him a very important back-up in an injury situation.
Meanwhile, Cornerback Reggie Carter is trying to earn more playing time after last year.
Before last season, former Pitt head coach Walt Harris said one of the starting cornerback jobs was Carter’s to lose. And that’s what happened. Josh Lay, now a senior, outperformed Carter in practice and won the starting job.
Carter called the demotion an “ego-bruising experience.” But he keeps reminding himself that this is a new season.
“I’ve got to let it go and play better than I did then,” Carter said.
New Panthers head coach Dave Wannstedt, a part-time Naples resident, likes Carter’s athleticism and his 6-foot, 185-pound frame. Wannstedt, who spent 4-1/2 seasons as head coach of the Miami Dolphins before joining Pitt, feels Carter just needs some seasoning before he can regain the starting role.
“He’s only going to get better with experience,” Wannstedt said. “But he’s got a great attitude and a great work ethic and that’s going to help him go a long way.”
Last season, Carter saw limited action in six games. He recorded seven tackles but no interceptions. A couple different leg injuries, however, slowed his progress, but defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads saw Carter grow despite the low output.
“Reggie is starting to mature and come into his own,” Rhoads said. “He is gaining confidence in his abilities as both a pass and run defender.”
I think he will have opportunities this season. Maybe not as a starter, but if Pitt is playing a more aggressive and tighter coverage he should be getting on the field more to keep the secondary fresh.
