Jake Kradel has been watching Pitt football since well, ‘forever’ as he put it. During Pitt’s dramatic 33-30 win over Duke on October 5th, he got to be a part of it. Kradel entered the game around the 6:00 minute mark of the second quarter and remained in the game at right guard throughout the duration of the contest and was on the field for Kenny Pickett’s game-winning touchdown pass to V’lique Carter.
“Jake Kradel did an outstanding job,” Pat Narduzzi said during his Monday press conference. "I think he ended up getting 57 plays, which is great that he was able to get that experience. We would have liked to have slowly gotten him that experience, but he was thrown in there and took it like we thought. He's a mature kid that is into it, and our kids have a lot of faith and trust that he was going to go in and get the job done.”
While Narduzzi said he expects Gabe Houy to return to start at right guard this week, Kradel will be preparing to get more playing time in the team’s Friday night showdown with Syracuse on national TV. After getting that first taste of significant game action, the redshirt freshman from Butler (PA) says he’s ready for more.
“Oh yea, I’m confident,” he told reporters during the bye week. “I watch film more and see what they’re doing. Before I even line up, I know what they’re doing. I’m really confident now.”
Kradel’s emergence on the field is not a surprise, but it may have come a little sooner than expected. He was one of the biggest recruits Pitt signed in the class of 2018. He had 25 scholarship offers during his senior year, including ones from Ohio State, UCLA, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia. In the end, he opted to stay home and play for the team he grew up watching.
“That was the big part of it,” Kradel said about committing to Pitt. "Coach Duzz being honest and up-front about everything and then me being a hometown kid, I just wanted to come and play for Pittsburgh that was my biggest thing.”
Kradel said he’s watched Pitt offenses play forever, and usually they are geared towards the run, but under new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, the team passes the ball more and tries to play with tempo. Even for an offensive linemen, he likes how the team plays now.
“It’s fun, it’s up-tempo,” Kradel said of Pitt’s offense. “Once we get a big play we go quick, so its fun to catch the defense off-guard. Before it was like go back to the huddle and come up with a new play. This is fun, fast, and explosive.”
While everyone expected Kradel to be a big part of the Pitt football program, some might not have expected success to come so soon. Kradel was named to the All-ACC first team of the week by Pro Football Focus following the Duke game, as he graded out as one of the best linemen in the conference in his first real taste of game action.
Once the nerves calmed down a bit, he was able to settle in and just play like he’s always known how to play.
“First play I was a little nervous, second play just like I was playing football again,” Kradel described of his experience in the Duke game. “Just like when I was in little league, just fun and I got that first play out of the way and after that it was just play football.”
Kradel has been waiting on his moment, and has been preparing to play even if he wasn’t in the starting lineup yet this season. Whether it was talking to the linemen on the field, or staying and getting extra work with Jimmy Morrissey after practice, Kradel has been ready for when his name was called.
After a strong showing in his first real test, his teammates have taken notice.
“I thought he played really well,” running back Todd Sibley said after running for 60 yards against the Blue Devils. “Especially being thrown into the middle of the fire like that and just having to adjust on the run. I thought he did fairly well and he’s had a lot of preparation since then, so he’ll be ready to go if needed this week.”
