— A “marathon” negotiating session last week led to former Panther Darrelle Revis getting a deal done with the New York Jets. Aside from 1st overall pick JaMarcus Russell and Revis, every other 1st round pick had been signed. Revis has a bright future ahead of him, and SI’s Peter King lists him as a CB on his “All-Future Team.”

The Cleveland Browns thought enough of him to have him ranked as a top-five player in the draft this year — and the Jets thanked their lucky stars Revis was still there at No. 14. He’s got excellent cover skills and is a willing tackler.

— CBS SportsLine predicts Pitt will finish sixth in the Big East over UConn and Syracuse.

6. Pittsburgh: Which way you headed, Wanny? Without a proven quarterback and six new starters on defense, Dave Wannstedt is on the hot seat. Watch roadies at Virginia and Michigan State. They will be an indicator of his future.

Pitt and Cincinnati in the 5/6 spots seem to be a toss up. And the comment about Wannstedt being on the hot seat is a bit premature; but it got some talk in the discussion thread.

— Sports Illustrated devoted this week’s issue to previewing college football. They also have Pitt coming in at #6 in the BE with a 5-7 overall record and 2-5 in conference. Not a ton of love there — but they do give a nod to Oderick Turner who is going to be a little more widely known since he’s our top receiver right now.

— Both PSI and Kevin Gorman report that freshman offensive guard Chris Jacobson badly hurt his right knee and will need surgery. The procedure will like take place next week and though he will possibly miss the whole season, Wannstedt did not entirely rule him out for the rest of the year. Obviously, redshirting him is looking like the smart option.

— Beano Cook was a guest on Mark Madden’s show on ESPN Radio 1250. Cook, who Madden calls the “Pope of college football,” says Pitt’s home schedule is the worst it’s been since World War II. That’s not a joke — Beano knows. He also says that LeSean McCoy will see a ton of playing time this year and will make an immediate impact. I found it funny when Cook, at a young 75 years old, referred to McCoy as “Shady.” He also says McCoy will be Pitt’s running back for 3 years before jumping to the NFL.

Well, here’s hoping Chris Jacobson has successful surgery on his dislocated right knee-cap.

Jacobson, a 6-foot-3, 285-pounder from Keystone Oaks, was the second-team left guard for the Panthers before getting injured during a pass-rush drill Saturday. Jacobson was wearing a protective knee brace when the injury occurred, Wannstedt said.

Wannstedt says Jacobson’s injury will require surgery, scheduled for next week, but Wannstedt didn’t rule Jacobson out for the season.

Sorry, I’m a little on the cautious side. Just red-shirt him now and don’t do anything stupid. Let him get a full rehab and time to heal from this.

Jacobson wouldn’t have been a starter this season unless Jeff Otah had gone down, but he was going to provide some (any) much needed depth for the O-line.
Mike McGlynn started actual practice on Sunday and took snaps at center with the second-team. He also took some snaps at left guard and right tackle, so who can be sure where he will be playing. If he plays at center, then the team will have a  very, very thin depth chart. It also means that Vangas just couldn’t do the job.

Well, here’s to hoping for some cliche gunk about how the team closed ranks and really came together rather than hanging their heads.

As expected, the majority of the stories concerned the receivers and who will step in for Derek Kinder.

Kinder’s absence intensified the competition for the starting receiver spots. There are seven candidates, all underclassmen: redshirt juniors Marcel Pestano and Austin Ransom, redshirt sophomores Cedric McGee and Oderick Turner, true sophomore T.J. Porter and true freshmen Maurice Williams and Aundre Wright.

“Most of those guys were jockeying for his spot,” Hill said. “Everyone wants to be the No. 1 guy.”

Every receiver also is capable of playing both receiver positions, which gives the Panthers a chance to look at different combinations during training camp.

The 6-foot-3 Turner, who led the Panthers with eight touchdown receptions last season, is the biggest target and a frontrunner at split end. McGee, the strongest and best blocker, was Kinder’s backup at flanker and has worked with the first team. Pestano is regarded as the smoothest and best route-runner of the group. Porter is the most explosive and maybe the best in the open field.

While explosive and playmaking ability is big for a WR, when the offense is a Wannstedt-Cavanaugh production you know they will be looking first for consistency.

“It is obviously a setback for us,” receivers coach Aubrey Hill said. “Now we need to regroup as receivers. We need to find the guys who are going to do things consistently right, which is what Derek did every day. But, knowing this group, they will respond and they’ve responded already.”

Bill Stull — who I think it is safe to say is the starting QB this season barring injury or a total meltdown — won’t be able to lean on Kinder in the huddle. Kinder was one of the team leaders and that puts more pressure on Stull. That’s a lot. There will be Mike McGlynn and Darrell Strong, but after that there won’t be any other seniors on the offense.
Ron Cook writes how this could be a good thing for Pitt in the long term. Well, at least for 2008.

Wannstedt has been pointing to ’08 all along. He won’t say that publicly even now that he has lost Kinder for this season. The last thing he’s going to do is feel sorry for himself and write off ’07. That wouldn’t be fair to his other players, who are working hard at training camp and are naive enough to think that, even without Kinder, they can win all seven home games or maybe six and somehow steal a win on the road to finish 7-5 and sneak into some second-rate bowl.

But that doesn’t change the fact Wannstedt long has targeted ’08 as Pitt’s breakthrough season. Almost all of the players will be his recruits, more than a handful, such as Bostick, highly regarded. Many will be experienced in Wannstedt’s system. He’ll lose some key people after this season, among them offensive linemen Jeff Otah and Mike McGlynn, defensive end Joe Clermond, cornerback Kennard Cox and safety Mike Phillips. But those losses should hardly be devastating.

I am already sick of hearing about 2008. I realize that with the road games this season, the schedule isn’t set up for big success. Then you can add in a home slate that does it’s damnedest to keep enthusiasm curbed for this year.

Everyone officially associated with Pitt football is quietly whispering that come 2008, big things will happen. It assumes too much. It assumes that everyone will develop. It assumes the lines will finally be better. It assumes no key injuries. It assumes everything. It also assumes this season will suck.

From a talent standpoint, the one area where Pitt could withstand a loss to one of the starters would be WR. The depth at WR is something we are all aware. Oderick Turner, Marcel Pestano, Cedric McGee, and T.J. Porter. Throw in freshmen Maurice Williams and Aundre Wright and this is the one area where Pitt doesn’t seem to suffer a terrible drop-off in talent.

Losing Derek Kinder is still a very bad thing. It’s hard to give an objective measurement, because he is a fan favorite. He’s been a scrappy hard-working player who became one of the best WRs in the Big East because of his hard work and focus. Things that endear a player to Pitt (and many other) fans. He wasn’t a highly ranked recruit or given much thought to until his sophomore season. And then he was the sure-handed possession receiver, not the presumed star (Greg Lee).
Forget his ability as a receiver. He is still the best downfield blocker amongst the receivers. He is probably the hardest working player in that group and as a senior set the example and was the natural leader. He will clearly be missed on special teams with his blocking on punt returns.

Hopefully the surgery will go exceptionally well, and Kinder will be able to come back next year as strong as before.

Coming off the best Pitt women’s basketball season in the history of the program, the team got even better news from the suits of the NCAA. Mallorie Winn, one of if not Pitt’s best player, did not play all of last year because of a knee injury. She was granted another year of eligibility however, so she will get to play this year.

Winn was recruited to Georgia Tech by Agnus Berenato, playing one season under Berenato with the Yellow Jackets. Following her sophomore season, Winn transferred to Pitt to rejoin her former coach. Forced to sit out a redshirt season due to the transfer, the December 2006 Pitt graduate had to petition the NCAA in order to receive a sixth year of eligibility, which was granted on Wednesday.

In 2005-06 she was the team’s starting PG and second-team All-Big East. Returning almost all of the team that made it to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament this past season and adding Winn, look for another tourney bid next year.

— Former Pitt hoops coach (1994-1999) Ralph Willard’s Holy Cross team wasn’t able to pull the 13 over 4 seed upset last night and lost to Southern Illinois 61-51. His Holy Cross team was also in the West Region to add to the Pitt connection. It’s down to Dixon and Howland as the best Pitt related guy in that part of the bracket.

— If there was any reason I wanted to play Duke before, after seeing this flop I’d want to play them and beat them so badly.

— Damn, those Dukies have broken an opponents nose in two of their last three games. First it was Tyler Hansbrough and now VCU’s Wil Fameni. He’ll be wearing a mask against Pitt which is an advantage for us. It seems to always take guys a few games to get used to wearing a big plastic guard over their face. If only it had happened to Eric Maynor…(Thanks to TMGPanther in the comments for the link.)

Aaron Gray didn’t practice yesterday. But then there was no practice yesterday.

Some of the players spent the normal practice time yesterday at Petersen Events Center anyway, holding personal shoot-arounds or lifting weights.

Coach Jamie Dixon is at least publicly indicating Gray is at best 50-50 for Saturday (Insider subs.).

“The swelling didn’t go down that much,” Dixon said Tuesday. “They were still telling me Sunday he would play Monday but I wasn’t so sure. I am worried about Saturday.”

If Gray can’t go then the Hoyas will have a clear advantage in the post, especially with the way center Roy Hibbert has turned-up his game on of late, save the win at Villanova last Saturday. In the three previous games — all wins — Hibbert had 20 points and 11 boards at Louisville, 23 points and 11 rebounds over Marquette and 20 and six boards in a win over West Virginia. Hibbert scored 11 points and had two boards in the five-point loss at Pitt while Gray scored 11 points and had four rebounds, essentially negating each other.

There is no doubt Pitt needs Gray to have a good chance against Georgetown. To be honest, though, the guy who most worries me for this game is Jeff Green.

Tonight the Panthers (23-4, 10-2 Big East) travel to play Seton Hall (12-13, 3-9) at 8 p.m. at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. Coming home with a win would mean keeping their record away from the Pete at a perfect percentage.

There is a belief in the Big East Conference that the team which wins all of its home games and splits its road games can claim the regular-season title.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon subscribes to that theory, even if his Panthers are going about it backward. They are 5-0 on the road and 5-2 at home in conference play.

After No. 1 Florida’s loss Saturday at Vanderbilt, No. 7 Pitt is the last major-college program in the country to be undefeated on the road in conference play.

It’s an interesting enough stat when seeing we’ve been able to win at places like Syracuse and Morgantown. Tonight doesn’t seem like the night to have that record put to the test either. Seton Hall has actually played us tough the last eight times we went up against them but the teams that beat us in 2003 and 2004 were much better than the Pirates of 2007.

The toughest part of tonight’s game could be the full court press that Seton Hall is likely to use on us, especially after watching what Louisville was able to do to us. Listening to a SHU reporter talking on local radio, he said the press will probably cause us some trouble but not for the entire game.

Then there’s the issue of the big guy. As you’ve probably heard/read by now, Aaron Gray sat out yesterday’s practice.

Sounds like we’ll be waiting for a game time decision on his status. If he’s out, the shooting will need to be better. We can’t continue to shoot threes like we have the last two game which have combined for a total of 7 for 36. As Chas mentioned in his last post, no one is worried about it.

“It’s not a concern,” Fields said. “We’re getting good shots. A couple of mine [on Saturday] were in and out. We’re not going to let that get to us. That’s not going to bother us.”

Small forward Mike Cook, who broke out of a scoring slump against Washington with 15 points, is not worried about the shooting woes, either.

“It’ll come together,” Cook said. “Those guys are great shooters. We’re not worried about it. I hope teams think they can let us shoot from out there because we’ll take advantage of that. Our guys will start making them again.”

That’s what we need to win, but for what SHU needs to pull off a huge upset, PirateCrew.com gives us these two keys.

• Stan Gaines will have to duplicate his effort put forth against West Virginia. That will be much more difficult given Pittsburgh’s style, but Gaines at least has to be a presence on the boards. This is also a game that John Garcia should see significant minutes in. He must put forth an effort similar to those against Providence and Villanova.

• Larry Davis and Jamar Nutter will both have to immediately snap out of their slumps. Davis and Nutter combined to shoot 12 of 25 against Villanova and 7 of 13 from behind the arc. Since then, the duo is a combined 7 of 33 from the field and 4 of 21 from the arc. Their production has been beyond dismal, especially in a week where you play 2 road games and are battling late in the second half. Fortunately, both shoot much better at home.

Much easier said than done.

First, the Gray injury needs to be addressed.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon has watched Aaron Gray turn his ankle many times the past four seasons in practice. But, when his star center went down in a heap late in a 65-61 victory against Washington yesterday after grabbing a game-clinching rebound, Dixon made a beeline to the baseline to check on his hobbled 7-footer.

“I thought it was pretty bad,” Dixon said afterward. “He’s had ankle problems in the past. But he went down pretty bad on this one. I think this one could be worse [than the other sprains] from what I saw. I hope I’m wrong.”

Gray limped off the court after the injury and did not return in the final 10 seconds. He gingerly made his way to the locker room and will be re-evaluated today before determining whether he can play in the game at Seton Hall tomorrow night.

Well he seemed to walk over to the bench pretty well under his own power and when he sat down there were no trainers hurrying over to see him. I am in no way a doctor (at least not a medical doctor) so I could be completely off base with this — I just don’t feel too concerned about it right now.

Especially if he was to miss the Seton Hall game tomorrow. Not exactly the worst game to lose him for.

Looking back at the actual game though, Pitt did not play a stellar game (for the second time in a row) but this time managed to pull out the win. Washington did a good job from deep and they were able to keep the game close by shooting 7-11 from three point range.

In comparision, our outside shooting was less than stellar. We were 4 of 15 from 3-point range which puts them at 7 for 36 from behind the arc in the past two games.

Looking inside at the big men, Gray was only able to add 5 points as the combo of Hawes and Gray each neutralized one another. The 20 NBA scouts there didn’t see a ton of scoring from the two but saw them going at it all game.

A recurring theme with this Pitt team is someone new stepping up each game and yesterday it was Mike Cook coming through with 15 points. Ramon (11) and Sam Young (10) each came off the bench to score in double figures.

Gathering what I could from a Washington blog, it seems the mood there is mixed.

The Huskies received their second tough loss in as many games today. I really feel the Huskies were the better team in both of those games.
…

After reading the comments on the game, I thought I would respond. John Brockman was in foul trouble for most of the game. I think that hampered is ability to play physical basketball. He had some great, aggressive moves early on. He played timid for the majority of the second half in my opinion. Quincy Pondexter also was in foul trouble. His ability to help this team is nowhere to be found. He looks like a natural one play and the next he throws the ball out of bounds or goes to the hoop out of control. It is amazing how unpolished this freshman group is. Take away Hawes and this groups freshman year is an absolute bust.

Seems pretty happy with how the game went; not so much with how some of the players look right now.

Looks like Aaron Gray might be feeling a little more pain and discomfort from than injury than he originally had and it could be a bit more serious than originally believed. Dixon played it cool though and he comes in to calm us all down.

Two X-rays and a magnetic resonance imaging did not show any structural damage to the wrist, and Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said he is hopeful that Gray will be able to practice today and play against Marquette.

“I would say he has more discomfort than pain,” Dixon said. “We’ll see how it goes [today]. He was able to play with it Tuesday, and he did pretty well. I don’t see that it is anything serious. But we’re going to see how it is [today] and go from there.”

The final decision is to be made later today or tomorrow.

If he were to sit this one out, Levon Kendall would move over to center and Tyrell Biggs and Sam Young would play more at power forward. We might find out the hard way that sometimes we don’t appreciate Gray’s presence until he’s out.

Aaron Gray has strep throat. Aside from sucking lozenges, and not yelling too much, you have to expect him to play.

Aaron Gray has strep throat and did not practice Thursday, but Dixon is optimistic that the 7-foot senior center will be ready Saturday. “It’s something you have to deal with, and we’ll see how it is,” Dixon said. “It’s guesswork right now. I’d like to have Aaron against pretty much any team. I think that’s safe to say on that one.”

I still expect Pitt’s game plan to be a little different, because Gray will still have to be somewhat limited because of the illness.

Someone take some zinc, and maybe som echinacea or something over to Aaron Gray. At the very least some green tea to get him healthy for Saturday. He’s been battling some bug since the Duquesne game, and now with the Wisconsin game looming, his status is in doubt (that, or Jamie Dixon is going Bill Belicheck this year).

Looks like Paul Zeise will be filling in a bit on the Pitt basketball beat for the P-G. Ray Fittipaldo probably has to get back to the PSU beat for a couple weeks for their bowl game. So Zeise has the b-ball coverage including today’s online chat.

iambringingsexyback: Paul, after 10 games , what is the biggest weakness on this team? A legitimate scorer, someone who can take over a game? Lack of frontcourt depth?

Paul Zeise: That’s a great question. I think Mike Cook can be that go-to guy but he obviously has to become more assertive on offense and develop that scorers mentality. It is tough given the system the Panthers play for anyone to really step out like that but I think it really helps come tourney time when you have that one guy you can go to and get a basket when you need it. I think the outside shooting probably is still a question even though they’ve been shooting fairly well from the outside in most of their games. The only other question is this- – if a game is called tight, like most NCAA games are, especially in the NCAA, can this team adjust? They haven’t in the past, but this seems to be a little more skilled and athletic team than we’ve seen.

Everyone will have to step up on Saturday. Even with Gray Wisconsin matched up well with Pitt.

I don’t think the Pitt coaches will be counting on it to happen, but hey, it’s worth a shot.

Redshirt Senior OL John Simonitis will be applying for a medical redshirt.

He is now looking into the prospects of getting a medical waiver with the hopes of gaining a sixth year of eligibility but, according to Simonitis, that appears to a be a long shot.

“I’m going to try but it is not looking good,” Simonitis admitted. “The coaches don’t think it’s possible. I think I will be all right without it, I have enough game film and I have been a four-year starter. A lot of my coaches are going to help me out, getting me into some (NFL) camps.”

According to the NCAA, a student athlete has five years to complete four seasons of competition. The school must apply to the conference office, in this case the Big East to receive a medical waiver. The criteria for receiving a medical waiver is an athlete must suffer a season-ending injury. The injury must occur during the first half of the season and the athlete can not have participated in more than two games or 20 percent of the games during a season.

In Simonitis’ case, he played in five games, although he participated in just two plays against Cincinnati and one play in the Toledo game.

“The coaches have to petition the NCAA and give good reasons why I should be able to get the (waiver),” Simonitis said. “I already was redshirted and I never had a season ending injury before. If I had a choice I would go back for a sixth year and get another year of experience. That would probably help me in the draft. Whatever happens, happens. The coaches don’t think it’s looking good, there are a lot of circumstances and I think I have probably played too many games.”

As for his future, only time will tell. It all depends on how smoothly the rehab goes. Simonitis is still intent on getting to an NFL camp whether it be in 2007 or the following year. The Dolphins and Raiders are two teams that have visited the Pitt campus and relayed to the coaching staff that they liked what they saw in Simonitis. At 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, he has the size and footwork to make it in the NFL.

Even though his other redshirt was non-medical, the fact that he has already redshirted probably weighs heavier against him then playing in 5 games this year.

Pitt swept the Big East weekly honors this week. LaRod Stephens-Howling named Offensive Player of the Week. Chris McKillop took Defensive POW.

In light of the season ending injury to redshirt sophomore, safety Eric Thatcher, Coach Wannstedt’s messge was to remind many players in practice that they could be expected to step in and perform as a starter. Obviously that message was one Chris McKillop heeded a while ago.

“I went out there every day and, even though I wasn’t a starter, I played like I was,” McKillop said. “I practiced hard and let the chips fall where they may. It was unfortunate we lost Doug, because he’s a great player, but it gave me an opportunity. I can’t let the window of opportunity close. I seized the opportunity.”

McKillop’s inspired play has been paramount to the Panthers’ improvement on the defensive line. After getting manhandled in his first season at defensive end, the 6-foot-3, 250-pound converted middle linebacker spent the offseason adding 15 pounds of muscle to his frame.

McKillop lost the starting job at left end to Joe Clermond in training camp, but he was ready when called upon after Fulmer was injured against The Citadel.

“That was a tough situation,” Pitt defensive line coach Greg Gattuso said. “That’s a hard thing to do, lose a starting job and to keep working as hard as he worked. It should send a message to not only our defensive line but, hopefully, all our team that you never know when your number is going to get called again and it’s important to be ready.”

Assuming that Pitt beats UCF on Friday and Rutgers beats Navy on Saturday (netither, especially the latter, is a given), the Homecoming game (Oct. 21) with Rutgers should be a very big game in the Big East and for the top-25 rankings. If so, it will likely end up on ESPN2 and move the gametime to 5:45 pm from noon. Apparently ESPN2 is going to show a BE game in that slot. The other choice would be Louisville-Syracuse.

It’s all about making the most of the chances being given.

With John Simonitis done for good, the starting job goes to Freshman Joe Thomas.

“Joe’s going to be a heck of a player,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “When you’re starting a freshman, every week is going to be an adventure. He’s going to be a good player for us. He’s everything that we’d hoped.”

Simonitis’ injury and Thomas’ elevation to the starting lineup leaves the Panthers perilously thin on the offensive line. Thomas was considered the top backup at both guard positions, which forces sophomore Dom Williams into that role and leaves redshirt freshman Craig Bokor next in line.

“We just don’t have the depth,” Wannstedt said. “Guys are going to have to step up. You don’t have to tell me it’s all part of the game, but it’s tough for me to deal with.”

Not that the Panthers lack confidence in Thomas. He was ranked among the nation’s top 20 offensive linemen at powerhouse Lakewood St. Edward – where he played alongside Ohio State starting left tackle Alex Boone – and fended off late recruiting overtures from the Buckeyes.

The scary thing, beyond starting a freshman on the line — and let’s be totally honest, that isn’t the scariest thing for Pitt fans after seeing the O-line perform with veterans in the recent past — is that the depth is disturbingly not there.

Well, one of the reasons Thomas came to Pitt was for the chance to play early. Admittedly, this wasn’t what he had in mind.

Dorin Dickerson is also happy to see some playing time, even if this season hasn’t gone the way he wanted.

Initially after the Toledo game, he played the traditional cliche.

“As long as I can help the team, that’s the best thing I can do. I felt good about it and if I was going to be red-shirted then that was ok too.”

“Whatever the coach wanted to do I was going to do, as long as I can help the team.”

Well, now he’s being a little more honest.

“I feel good about playing even if it is the fifth game,” Dickerson said. “[Coach] talked about just using me on special teams for now, which is fine. I just want to be a part of it and try to help the team win. It is a long season, a lot can happen. [Coach] made it clear what my role would be and said because he promised me a chance to play during recruiting, he’d leave it up to me.

“I just said, ‘let’s go for it’ because I couldn’t wait, I couldn’t take sitting around any more. Just watching everyone play, it was hard, I haven’t ever had to do that. I’m a team player and if coach really wanted me to redshirt, I would have, but I just felt like I wanted to play even if it is a little bit at a time for now.”

Now, it’s up to the coaches to use him.