It’s no secret that the Big East didn’t exactly reload on signing day in February. Pitt was the only school to crack the top-25 with regards to the various recruiting class evaluations. Louisville was close to the top-25 and in one or two rankings. The rest weren’t close. So, it is no surprise that when you look to teams and players in the Big East who will have an impact right away, that Pitt and Louisville are the teams with the juice. Tom Lemming (disclaimer of questionable reliability alert) lists 5 freshmen who could be expected to have an immediate impact in 2006. 2 from Louisville (DE Deantwan Whitehead and WR Josh Chichester). Pitt had the other 3 players: TE Nate Byham, DL Jason Pinkston and Dorin Dickerson (who he sort of lists as a linebacker?)
It was a horrible recruiting year for the Big East — with all five of these impact players matriculating to just two different schools — but one major standout is Dickerson. This 6-foot-3, 210-pounder can do it all, having logged time at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, strong safety and outside linebacker at Imperial West Allegheny. No matter what the position, Dickerson plays like a champ.
On offense, he’s a long strider with good vision and instincts with tremendous hands. He could play either running back or wide receiver at Pitt. On defense, Dickerson was one of the most aggressive players in western Pennsylvania, showing a great change of direction and quickness to the ball. Look for this local product to do a lot of damage for Dave Wannstedt.
Dickerson’s versatility and athleticism so desperately needs to be taken advantage of — especially on offense. I really worry that Coach Wannstedt and OC Matt Cavanaugh will not be flexible enough in their game plan to do that.