Narduzzi on freshmen, Pickett, depth charts and more

Pat Narduzzi talked about standout freshmen, Kenny Pickett, depth charts and more before Thursday’s practice. Here’s the full rundown of what he said.

Narduzzi: Practice 18 for us and I’m happy. You look at, 18 days in and where are we? Our team has grown up. I think we’ve got good chemistry right now. We’ve got tomorrow with the rehearsal scrimmage in the afternoon and just tidying things up before game week next week. I love the attitude of our football team, I love these kids, I think things are right where we want them to be. We finished with our senior talks last night and we’re going to vote for captains this evening.

There are a couple other freshmen who have emerged. I know we’ve talked about Leslie Smith and I think we’ve talked about Vince Davis, but there are two other guys that I think, you know, could see some action this year. I’m not saying they’ll see it in the opener, but Jared Wayne is a guy who’s really stepped up at the receiver spot and keeps getting better every day. And SirVocea Dennis, as well, is another one of those two guys that I look at and go, ‘We’re going to see these two pop on the field at some point this season.’ So I think I’d be wrong if I didn’t mention those two guys.

And then tonight we have Curtis Martin coming in to talk to our team tonight, which we tend to bring a former Pitt man, a Hall of Famer in to speak to the team. I think it’s really, really important. So not only will we have him tomorrow at the luncheon, but we’ll have him tonight.

You mentioned Jared; you’ve got a decent amount of upperclassmen at receiver, what has he done to break through in that group?
Narduzzi: He’s been steady. I don’t know what his 40 time is, but he runs well, he’s a long strider, he catches the ball really well. For a quarterback, you want to know that if you throw it there, he’s going to make a play. So he’s made some moves there as far as making plays on the ball. He had two outstanding catches yesterday in practice, you’re kind of going, ‘Golly, how do we not try to get this guy on the field?’

You talked about attitude. Is that something you’ve seen develop since the beginning of the season?
Narduzzi: Yeah, I think just kind of - just going through camp, it’s a grind, and I just think they’ve stuck together and they’ve kept a great attitude throughout camp and I think that’s something you can see. Sometimes there’s some ups and downs in camp and you get into the team meeting or whatever but they’re having fun and they have a great attitude. I think that’s all important.

Kenny’s progress - the things you saw last year that he needed to get better at, how has he improved in those things?
Narduzzi: I think you find those things out on game. I think you find it out, really, on game day. It’s hard to see it in practice. He’s become a better leader. I think he’s throwing the ball better, I think he’s reading things better. But you find out on game day. To say he’s better - you know, I don’t see him any different right now than I saw him a year ago except for leadership and a different guy telling him what to do. But I’m sure on game day we’re going to see some changes and I think that’s when the test is. It doesn’t matter if you studied for the test; it’s what happens when test day gets there. And it’s coming soon.

The two running backs you’re replacing obviously did a lot of good work for you last year, but do you like the versatility you have in this year’s group, maybe a little more than last season?
Narduzzi: I do. We’re going to make some backs. AJ’s been very consistent in the backfield. Todd Sibley’s come back and been strong. So we’re going to find out who those guys are and that depth chart will evolve as the season goes on.

As far as the depth chart goes, for what you’re going to publish on Monday, how much do you think is settled?
Narduzzi: I’d say it’s about 80, 85%. It’s still always a work in progress. Who practices well? Who can handle the game plan? Because obviously we’ll be doing different stuff each week. And the first week will be different than the second week. I think you’ll see a difference there, just who can handle it one week as opposed to two-and-a-half, three weeks, depending on how much prep time you have for a particular game.

Has this week been all Virginia?
Narduzzi: No, we’re still working on ourselves. Sometimes you can get into it too fast. But we’ve worked a couple periods of that and it’s been mainly taking care of ourselves and doing those types of things.

In regards to previous teams, what makes your team unique in your eyes?
Narduzzi: Different senior class. I mean, you know, what is unique? They’re all the same, when you look at it. We’ve got 110 guys in camp. 110 is a big number. And what makes it unique? I think there’s always a different flavor to every football team. I think every team is led by their seniors and who those seniors are is critical. I think the team will take over the makeup of their leaders and it’s the seniors in this class. So let’s hope that’s good.