As most of you have already heard, Greg Romeus’ back has gotten so bad that it requires surgery.
“Our top priority is doing what is best for Greg,” coach Dave Wannstedt said. “After consulting with him, his family and our medical staff, it was determined that immediate surgery is the best option for Greg both personally and athletically. We expect him to have a full recovery and return for the conclusion of the season.”
Romeus has a herniated bulging disk in his lower back — which kind of makes it stunning that he even played in the Utah game.
As you can expect there is a fair amount of doom and gloom for Pitt’s chances to win the Big East with Romeus out for essentially the season — regardless of what Coach Wannstedt is saying. I think this season has shown demonstrated that Wannstedt, like any other football coach (pro or college) is going to feed a lot of vague to outright lies regarding the severity of injury and timetable for the return of players.
Chris Gates at The Fan is a fan of Brandon Lindsey and thinks he can do the job. I think Lindsey will play well, but you don’t just plug in a guy at Romeus’ spot and get the same production. Sheard will now be facing more double teams and the entire D-line will need to step up pressure.
The DE position is supposed to be one of Pitt’s strongest and deepest spots. That will now be tested. There will also be pressure on Coach Wannstedt to consider burning the redshirt on T.J. Clemmings. He was the gem of the 2010 recruiting class and there is more than a week before the Miami game. Opportunities abound for the DE’s to make their move this week.
As a final note. Considering the start Dion Lewis has had (and whispers he is hurt) and now the injury to Romeus, this whole individual site system for star players has not worked out real well. Not saying there is any real connection, but maybe as a precaution the Pitt Athletic Department could take down Jon Baldwin’s for a while.
When it comes down to the root of the matter the sole reason Romeus came back was to better his NFL draft status. I’d think that the chances of his doing permanent injury at this level at least equals that now – his best course is to try to get himself into the NFL as quickly as possible and roll the dice there.
I think people were seduced by his ‘measurables’ rather than his actual production anyway. He had six solo sacks last season – three alone against Louisville and zero after the RU game – meaning he went the whole second half of the season without one. His solo TFL total was nine – again with three against Louisville and again, virtually disappeared in the second half of the season.
Here is a telling note – against our toughest opponents in those late season games he had a grand total of one TFL and zero sacks against ND, WVU and Cincy.
That said, Bennett will be earning his paycheck this season.
“Pitt senior defensive end Greg Romeus will have back surgery on Thursday to repair a disc in his lower back.” — Ray Fitapaldo.
Since he has played in less than 30% of the games this season I think he is eligible, however they expect him to recover in 6-8 wks and if he plays after surgery would invalidate the 30% rule.
His best course of action has yet to be determined. I am sure what his best course of action is will be determined after his recovery.
Sometimes adversity brings out the best in a team.
Reed raises a good point as to whether Romeus would really want another year in college. I think that if he can get back before the end of the year and/or keep his draft stock high enough that he believes he will go in the first three rounds, he is better off taking his chances at the next level.
Medical redshirt, while not technically, correct is used on the boards interchangeably with Medical hardship. The point being, is he eligible for another year? I just don’t feel like correcting them anymore. Gun received a 6th year of eligibility. Mike Cook did not because he played in 34% of the games that year which had nothing to do with missing multiple seasons (it is not in the regulations as far as I can tell).
Your right on with the “if” part. I’m sure he’ll weight all his option with family, coaches and medical staff when the time comes. To keep all options open he/Pitt must file for the medical hardship. All I’m saying is, let’s not write him off just yet.
I really wonder what effect this lockout is going to have on college. Will a guy like Jon Baldwin stay for his senior season because of the lockout? I hope so!
There was a term we used in high school football a long time ago: “Ice it, Gouge(the trainer’s name).” I don’t know a lot of things here, but I would at least question the decision.
As far as injuries in general, good team rally around the injuries and players step up. This is what Wanny’s recruiting prowess should result in – having players ready to step in at a given moment and not skipping a beat. Look at Graham in for Dion. Players have to perform when asked to. This is a sign of a great program. Step up Pitt!
Hail to Pitt!
Why didn’t the team just address this medical condition early on instead of waiting? This just smells bad and makes me question Wanny and the choices he has made that much more….
I’m more disappointed with Wanny saying he was excused from New Hampshire due to a “personal problem”. Wanny had always struck me as a straight shooter. Let’s face it, we were not really fooled but a casual observer may have read something behaviorally negative into it. As most “personal problems” usually turn out to be.
link to pittsburgh.rivals.com
link to mlb.mlb.com
Pitt has games currently scheduled for both those days as well..which in the past has always meant a noon start for Pitt…however the 24th is the Notre Dame game. There is no way ESPN is going to have Notre Dame play at noon…I see a Thursday night Notre Dame next year….which is almost just as bad as a noon start. (Has Notre Dame ever played on a Thursday during the regular season ???)
You guys should maybe team up. Howsabout “Turk and Gas Do Backs Best.” Or maybe a rock group.
