I realize Pitt is re-transitioning to a 4-3 defense, from the 3-4, but given that it was only one season. And most of the players were already schooled in the 4-3 principles, I’m not going to be buying too many excuses for struggling based on that move.

On the other hand, the linebackers themselves may be a big concern. Todd Thomas appears to be slower coming back from his ACL injury than hoped. Shane Gordon is out, Ejuan Price is coming back slowly from a spring injury, and several others appear to be dinged up at the moment. Heck, moving to a 4-3 may have been necessary based on the depth chart.

With Thomas out, and linebacker Shane Gordon “day to day,” fifth-year seniors Manny Williams and Joe Trebitz have filled those roles. Wednesday, redshirt freshman Jason Frimpong found himself practicing with the first-team linebackers after Eric Williams went down with an injury.

Trebitz played in 12 games last year, but registered just five tackles. Manny Williams didn’t see meaningful playing time.

Now, Chryst said, is the chance for those guys to prove they deserve playing time once the presumed starters return.

“We’ll find out [about our depth] as you go through in practice,” Chryst said. “Because of the guys that aren’t practicing, other guys have opportunities and we’ll see what they do with that opportunity.”

Lots of questions about how the linebackers will turn out, since there isn’t a lot of experience.

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When I end up taking several days away, the hardest thing is figuring out where to begin on all that was missed. Let’s start with trying to fill out a depth chart

Man, Tom Ricketts going down for the year on the first day of practices with a shoulder injury is a blow. I have no idea how good he really is. But he’s an offensive lineman, and Pitt cannot afford to be even thinner at the position. The O-line has been the eternal concern for Pitt every year to start camp. This year is no different. The lack of depth over the years has manifested in another way.

A big problem is that the backup offensive linemen have played almost no snaps from scrimmage. When right tackle Matt Rotheram hurt his leg Thursday, he was replaced by Zenel Demhasaj, a junior-college transfer who redshirted last year at Pitt. When guard Chris Jacobson took plays off to rest his knee, redshirt sophomores Shane Johnson and Arthur Doakes worked with the first team. “It’s time for them to step up,” Hueber said.

These are all kids who at best were on the second-team in practices now being needed to go up against the first team defense. The only positive is that the D-line looks strong, so they are getting good tests right away.

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It would be so tempting to be sidetracked. PSU fighting itself and maybe the NCAA. Fraud Graham still spinning. So easy. So much fun. No! There are practices. There is actual sport. Must. Stay. Focused.

Let’s start at the defensive end.  The questions are about the player behind him and the other side. From a star-recruiting ranking perspective it seems loaded with Shayne Hale, T.J. Clemmings and Bryan Murphy. Reality is something else. Hale has never progressed from potential no matter the position. Clemmings seems to have endless questions about his desire. Murphy just has problems getting on the field. So, Tyrone Ezell is moving to the DE spot, while LaQuentin Smith is competing at linebacker. Zeise tips the hand of why Ezell has moved when he puts it in terms of “ moving into the mix has thrown a little bit of fire into this competition.”

Ezell might win the other starting spot simply because he wants and will work harder for it. That’s a little frustrating, but it is taking place early. Chryst and DC Huxtable are wasting no time trying to make sure that even when there are issues of depth there is is a sense of urgency and competition.

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Another year of training camp. Five head coaches and two interim coaches later it is the ninth year of I am posting about it. Hard to believe.

Here’s a good run down of what the situation is at each unit. And by “good run down,” I mean absolutely terrifying with regards to depth.

Let’s start with our annual area of fear and concern. The O-line.

Unfamiliar blocking schemes doomed Pitt last year, but many of its linemen were trained and recruited for a style similar to Chryst’s. That could lead to improvement, but the return to health of senior left guard Chris Jacobson (knee), a leader in the locker room, will be equally important.

Senior center Ryan Turnley played last season with plantar fasciitis in his foot and sets a good example. Left tackle is a mess after the season-long suspension of Juantez Hollins, but redshirt junior Cory King may get the first shot at settling things down.

Massive redshirt sophomore Matt Rotheram — he’s 6-foot-6 and 335 pounds — will play right tackle, and redshirt junior Ryan Schlieper will start camp at right guard.

Lack of depth on the line may be Pitt’s biggest problem.

“May be Pitt’s biggest problem?” Didn’t even know that was debatable.

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A big theme for Big East Media Day was the status of Ray Graham’s ACL. There’s no specifics on it. Just that it is coming along and Graham plans to be ready.

Senior running back Ray Graham said he plans to play Sept. 1, when Pitt opens the season against Youngstown State, but he won’t push his recovery from a serious right knee injury beyond the limits of his body.

“You definitely ease your way into it,” he said. “I think I’m Superman, but at the end of the day, we aren’t really Superman.”

He and Coach Chryst are definitely planning on taking it cautiously in getting him ready. That means protecting him in training camp.

Graham says his knee feels good, but coach Paul Chryst prefers to be cautious with his star player and won’t rush him back too quickly. Graham will open camp with a non-contact jersey, and then the training staff will take it from there to see how he does.

“No matter how your workouts go in the summer, once you start doing the football over and over, we have to be smart and say let’s make sure he’s progressing and not taking steps back,” Chryst said. “I’d rather be a little bit cautious than speed it up out of the gates too fast.

“He has to get where he can trust himself first and build the pieces of contact. So I’d err on being much more cautious with him, until you know they know they’re not thinking about it and they can just go.”

Graham says he plans on wearing a knee brace initially just to be sure he has enough stability in his knee to be able to make his cuts without thinking about getting hurt again.

“I feel good, my confidence is there. At the end of the day it’s more of a mental thing,” Graham said. “I don’t want to be out there timid because I don’t want to get hurt again. I worked too hard for this. I put too much sacrifice and hard work to getting back to being healthy.”

And let’s be really honest. Graham has NFL RB potential. That’s his economic future. He’s already going to be downgraded by NFL front offices regardless of how well he comes back because of the ACL injury. Coming back slowly lessens the chance of any setbacks — and more red flags.

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Here’s the thing to keep in mind about Summer Leagues. They are great for building team chemistry because everyone stays in the Burgh for the summer and does stuff together. They provide fan excitement and anticipation for upcoming season because the fans get to see the players in an organized setting. They help the team, but not because they are playing in a summer league. It is because they get to practice with coaches and the team over the summer. Especially starting this year, as the NCAA allows some team practices in addition to the individualized workouts with the coaches.

They are not, however, predictors of team or even individual success in the actual season. A great game in the summer league does not mean the kid is ready to break out. Just as a bad night does not mean he’s regressed. These are not pick-up games but there is a lot more one-on-one and two-on-two play in the course of the game.

Having issued that caveat on the unbridled optimism that can rival spring football practices at times, Rivals.com has the rundown on the games from last night. James Robinson made his debut.

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The NCAA finally changed some of the rules for college basketball players in the summer. The old rule forbade any organized practicing overseen by the coaching staff. Some individualized sessions were allowed, but not the whole team at once.

The rationale was that summer practicing under the coaches control would make college sports too much like a professional sports system, and all the other justifications. This led to fascinating work-arounds. Like the head coach have his office built with big windows to oversee the practice court. And if he happened to be in the office when the kids came for their own voluntary practices, well, then he could stand and watch them through the class. And, hey, that banging on the glass by the coach wasn’t to get their attention. He just heard something on the TV that caused him to react.

The NCAA finally loosened the rules and allows the coach two whole hours a week to work with the entire team.

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It’s a bit of a basketball round-up.

First up, J.J. Moore got injured over the weekend playing pick-up basketball.

Pitt sophomore forward J.J. Moore will undergo surgery for a fractured fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot after suffering the injury in a pickup game Friday.

The injury takes three months to heal.

Moore’s injury is common among basketball players. It is the same injury that forced Levance Fields and Jermaine Dixon out of the lineup in recent seasons.

It isn’t the healing that is the concern. It is the possibility of it being a recurrent issue. It was a bit of a problem for Levance Fields. Still, while he won’t be playing in the summer league, he will be ready for the start of the practices before the season begins.

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So spring practices are in the books. Now the darkness of the spring and summer months fall. With little but speculative predictions, tidbits of recruiting news, filler, fluff and whatever else that can partially fill the void of Pitt football (insert joke here) until August.

But before that, a recap — media-wise — of the spring game. Reed did another great job of covering spring practices and recapping key things from the spring game. And thanks for all who were able to attend who left their impressions of the day.

For some other blog-writer perspectives, Anson from Cardiac Hill had a list of developments from spring practices. Pitt Script has his view, and makes a great observation.

It really hit me yesterday how much of a rebuilding job Paul Chryst has in front of him. There’s the team coming off a season that had nearly as many head coaches as wins with an incumbent quarterback that can’t seem to get the job done and no one to replace him. But there’s also the fanbase – which was never particularly large or deep – that seems deeply unsatisfied with how the past 18 months have gone.

The fanbase point is a good one.

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You don’t know how much I wish I was heading to Pittsburgh right now.

An interment coupled with the fact that my wife’s family don’t really drink. Wheeeeee.

So, for those at the tailgates and scrimmage, please leave your thoughts and opinions on what you see.

Extra note, this quote from Andrew Taglianetti is fantastic.

Chryst, like most coaches, gathers his players around him and addresses them after every practice. He occasionally becomes loud and animated but never overstays his welcome.

“(His speeches) are a fraction of the time compared to last year,” Taglianetti said. “He keeps it short and simple. He kind of gets right to the point, which is good for us. It’s not this overextended lecture about everything that goes on in your life. That’s kind of a knock on the previous regime.”

You mean every moment in football is not a metaphor for your life?

/worldview shatters

First off, I’m sorry to say that I will not be making it to the Blue-Gold game this year. My wife’s uncle passed away last month and the interment is being held on Saturday. Apparently no one thought to consult with me as to what weekend would be best to do this. Naturally since this is the first spring game I will miss in a few years, the weather is supposed to be close to pleasant. Temps in the mid-to-upper-60s and a less than 50% chance of any rain. Please try and track down Reed and his group in one of the Park-and-Ride lots where they are tailgating and have a beer with them.

Hopefully some of you will be heading to the Dessert Tasting for a Cause event. A charitable event put together by Torrie Cox, Kris Wilson and Lousaka Polite. Three Panthers from the Walt Harris era that stay close to Pitt. It’s impressive when you take into account that Cox and Wilson are not from Pittsburgh and don’t make their home in the ‘Burgh — and while Polite is from the area, he now lives in Florida. But they keep coming back. Staying part of Pitt’s family.  Sam Clancy, Ruben Brown and Scott McKillop will also be attending. Looks like a pretty good menu (PDF).

I don’t care if the coach is in his first year or has been there as long as Frank Beamer, every head coach will tell you that spring practice went too quick and not enough was accomplished. Isn’t that right, Coach Chryst?

“It went too fast,” Chryst said of spring drills, which will end Saturday with the Blue-Gold scrimmage at North Hills` Martorelli Stadium. “Achieve everything? Probably no, but it`s been good. I just wish we had more (time).”

Of course you do.

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I guess on the bright side, it isn’t like last year when FraudGraham had practices almost entirely closed, and there was little to go on with the spring practices. It’s also better than Louisville where Charlie Strong has closed most of the practices. Or even Syracuse where Doug Marrone has kept all the practices closed — resulting in simply having to make up stuff.

Still with practices having more time between them up until the final practice — the Blue & Gold Game — not to mention giving the kids the Easter weekend off; there just hasn’t been a lot of news.

There should be some tomorrow. Today is Practice 13 — only 2 left.

In the mean time, there are a few stories to review.

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Well, after a post noting the lack of progress in the offense there was life spotted outside of Isaac Bennett. Not everyone will be happy since the signs of life did not include Mark Myers make a sudden and abrupt leap in his skills understanding of the offense. The noted improvements seen were from Tino Sunseri, Trey Anderson, the receivers and the O-line.

Trey Anderson’s improvements were a surprise, and probably the most shocking to most. The third-string, short-for-a-QB, “spread” QB who was brought in at the last minute by FraudGraham last year. Instead, Anderson — coming off a shoulder injury at the end of last year — made the move to the second-team in practice. Knocking Myers back a spot. Coach Paul Chryst, though, wants to make it clear that it isn’t because Myers is doing badly.

Coach Paul Chryst wants to see more of backup quarterback Trey Anderson, who received nearly every snap with the second-team offense Tuesday. Previously, Mark Myers was working with the No. 1 backups.

“He has done enough where you can balance the reps off to give him a chance to see things a little bit more and find out a little bit more who he is,” Chryst said.

Coaches said there is no depth chart, and Chryst added that the change was not a punitive measure aimed at Myers.

“We have to make sure we can look at everyone,” Chryst said.

“It’s not an in-the-doghouse kind of thing. At the same time, Trey did a couple things to merit some more reps, and those reps have to come from someone and they came from Mark today.”

Naturally, no one would consider it that way. Not Pitt fans. Not a chance. No way. No how.

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Not a lot being reported from spring practice for the last couple days. In fact, the only recent news is that LB Ejuan Price is out for the rest of the spring with a torn Pectoral Muscle. He’s having surgery and is expected back by training camp. Price plays MLB and should be competing with Dan Mason for the starting job.

Of course, I can’t think of pectoral surgery without thinking of this episode of Ren & Stimpy.

Even though Ray Graham has been on the sidelines recovering from his torn ACL and Rushel Shell won’t be here until the fall, the beat writers have really liked what they have seen from Isaac Bennett.

It’s too early for declarations, but Bennett may be the best player on offense.

He is bigger and stronger than a year ago – and unafraid of when Ray Graham returns from a knee injury and high school All-American running back Rushel Shell arrives on campus.

“I’m looking forward to playing beside everybody,” he said. “It’s not competition, but I say teamwork. Everybody will fit in somewhere.”

The ever-smiling son of a Tulsa, Okla., preacher, Bennett was unfazed when the team was abandoned by former coach Todd Graham, who was the only BCS coach to offer him a scholarship.

It’s a good thing, because no one seems too impressed with the QBs performances.

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Pitt Blather began back in 2003. You know the one consistent thing on this blog in relation to the football team? The one thing that has carried over regardless of who was the coach?

Being worried about the O-line. Even in years where the O-line was pretty good, there were always major questions going into the season. Some things never change, no matter how much we wish otherwise.

The makeup of the offensive line remains constant — tackles Juantez Hollins and Matt Rotheram, guards Cory King and Ryan Schlieper and center Ryan Turnley — but progress is slow.

“It’s nowhere close to where we want to be,” coach Paul Chryst said. “At any of these practices, you can pick out clips and say we’re starting to get it and then others where you can say, ‘Boy, guys, this isn’t very good.’ That is kind of typical of this time of year.”

Chryst said sixth-year senior guard Chris Jacobson is progressing well in his rehabilitation from knee surgery and could return to practice this summer.

“Certainly we will be a better team with him,” Chryst said.

And when the QB position is this shaky, it just makes it hard to be sure any style of offense will be productive at the moment.

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