Narduzzi on scrimmage standouts, the run game, the OL and more

Pat Narduzzi met the media on Tuesday and discussed standout players and more. Here's a full rundown of what he said.

Narduzzi: I hope you had a good weekend. We did. We had a nice jersey scrimmage that was a tight, tight scrimmage. Actually, it probably ended up in a tie. A little messy at the end. But competitive, kind of went back and forth. I’ll just talk about some of the guys that I thought had really good scrimmage.

Starting with Kenny Pickett. Kenny had a nice day overall. He maybe got 30 snaps, so we didn’t have a ton of snaps with him. We got him out early and wanted to see what the backups did. But Kenny’s playing really good, really great in the pocket, just playing at a high level right now.

Two receivers that really stood out to me: Jordan Addison, of course. The one thing that stood out was, he had a catch at one point and broke about three tackles and got a lot of yards after the catch. That’s something, a year ago, that I didn’t see out of him. So he’s a lot stronger. Something that I think he needs to get is the YAC after the catch.

Taysir Mack, again, had a nice ball game as well.

Up front, one of the guys that stood out to me was Marcus Minor. He really played a nice ball game. He was physical and the best he’s looked since he’s been there. He had a winning performance.

And then Izzy Abanikanda had a nice day. He had one of those runs that I think you guys saw last spring in practice two - he had one of those that popped through and nobody could catch him. He’s doing a great job in protection, as well. He did have one kind of bad block, but that’s a lot less than he’s had in the past.

Defensively, probably the beast up front was Devin Danielson doing some great things up front. He really took over inside. He looks like our best D-tackle at this point after, really, nine or ten practices.

At linebacker, Phil Campbell and John Petrishen continue to do some good things.

In the back end, we’re obviously looking for two safeties and Devonshire and Judson Tallandier probably looked as good as you’re going to look back there.

I thought the corner that really stood out overall was, A.J. Woods did some nice things.

So that’s those guys, and I always forget about the specialists. But Kirk - Kirk didn’t have his best day but Kirk has been playing great up until that point. You walk into Heinz and you want to see him punt the best he can punt. But he had been great for eight practices, really working on some details, and he didn’t have a great day in the scrimmage but was good. And we’ve got a two-way battle, which I can’t believe you guys haven’t asked with Kessman being gone - ‘What do the field goals and extra points look like?’ But Sam Scarton and Ben Sauls have done a nice job. It’s a heated race right now, as heated as any competition we have on the field right now. We’re getting them the same reps from the proper hash and putting pressure on them, they’ve had some pressure kicks they’ve had to make. It will be interesting in the spring game - it will be interesting, number one, to see who gets drafted at the kicker position because I think it’s a wash right now. But we’re going to find out who’s productive in the spring game. The spring game might be the biggest for the kickers, out of any position out there.

When you looked at the running game this offseason, what stood out as the biggest issues last year?
Narduzzi: I think we fixed it in our open week, just kind of nailed down, ‘Hey, what do you do well, what do you not do well?’ And again, the first thing that comes out is personnel. You don’t have a tight end. I mean, Lucas Krull - did I mention Lucas? Lucas is a beast right now. Lucas is playing like first-round material right now. Knock on a lot of wood here. That dude is playing really good, had another great day today. You look at him and you’re like, you might want to put him on the shelf over there and not practice him much more. If he keeps practicing like he does, you might not see much of him in the spring game on the 24th because we just want to make sure he’s safe and healthy. He’s really playing at a high level.

But, you know, you need some tight ends to run it. Gavin Bartholomew is probably the most physical tight end we have, and Lucas is a lot more physical than he was a year ago. And a lot healthier than he was a year ago, not only with the injury he sustained during the season but he came in with a shoulder, so we knew that was an issue and he wasn’t as strong as he needed to be.

So the tight end helps you, first of all; when you don’t have a tight end, you can’t just put 11 guys in there trying to block. So we kind of molded our offense to what we had and tried to branch off of that. Didn’t try to do something that we aren’t, and I think that was the key thing. And we’ve continued to do that through the offseason here: work off what we’re good at and don’t try to do things we’re not good at. I think it’s really just play selection and getting good at something you’re doing offensively.

It’s a football cliché that offense needs balance, but how important is it for your offense to get more balanced in order to score more points this season?
Narduzzi: It’s really important, especially when you get down to the red zone and you can’t stretch them down the field and everybody’s sitting on your routes and there’s no deep routes there. So it’s important, especially in the red zone, and we continue to work the red zone and get better running the football. But we’re running the ball better right now than we did all last spring. I won’t give you the stats and the numbers and all of that, but the last two games, I’ve been happy with the offense [starting] the run, not as happy with the defense stopping the run. So take that for what it’s worth, but we’re running the ball better.

But I think we ran the ball better against Florida State, I think we ran the ball better against Georgia Tech and I’m forgetting who the other team was - three out of the four last games, I thought we ran the ball a lot better than we had earlier in the season.

How much of that is a testament to how the offensive line is doing at run-blocking so far this spring? Both Carter and Jake said that was one thing they both thought the offensive line needed to improve on.
Narduzzi: If you’re running the ball, the offensive line plays a part in that, for sure. But so do the tight ends and so do the running backs making the right reads. So I think it’s a little bit of both, and I’ll tell you the other thing: everybody talks about the O-line blocking, but it also counts when the receivers are blocking, so I think the receivers are doing a great job of going downfield and blocking. I think they’ve learned some things in the last 12 months and we’re blocking better down the field, I think.

You have a lot of depth on your offensive line, at least guys who have played before. Is Carter Warren being pushed for that left tackle job?
Narduzzi: There’s competition. I think they’re all pushing each other. Last week, Carter Warren’s been the left tackle and then we moved him over to starting right tackle. But it’s really a three-man race right now with Goncalves and Carter and Gabe, and right now I would say Gabe and Carter are winning the battle, but Matt is certainly pushing them.

How did you guys structure the scrimmage? Was it one’s against two’s or did you mix it up?
Narduzzi: We started off and did some punt. The special teams that we focused on were field goal, punt and obviously our punt return team, so those were the three special teams that we focused on. This weekend, we’ll work on kickoff, kickoff return and focus on that at Heinz. The first series was one offense vs. two defense and then we went two offense vs. one defense, and then after that we went one’s on one’s, two’s on two’s, three’s on three’s. So I would say a majority of it - it was a 155-play scrimmage - I would say a majority of it was - it was only one series of one’s on two’s, and that’s always competitive because the two’s always want to go against the one’s and they don’t get to do it very often. Sometimes you get surprised there.

You said Kenny got 30 snaps. With Davis and Joey and Nick, what did you see out of those guys?
Narduzzi: That’s a good question. I don’t want to tell you. Again, you hate to evaluate it all on one day, but we saw good things out of all of them and we saw bad things out of all of them. They’re still fighting to find out who that guy is. I thought Joey did some nice things, made some nice plays; he did throw one pick but it was a ball that hit a receiver in the hands, it was a tip and a pick. I think it was a pick-six. You don’t put that on Joey; he had that in the stat column but it was a perfect throw. And then Davis had an interception as well in a two-minute at the end of the game that was a little overthrown. But Davis did some great things earlier in the scrimmage.

It’s their first time coming into Heinz this year, and I always say, when the lights come on, we’re going to find out what they’ve got. But it’s been a back and forth, and I think Davis and Joey and Nick Patti’s done some good things as well; to me, I think he’s probably the next guy trying to work it up and he’s done some nice things. And I’ll tell you, Nate Yarnell does some nice things as well. He’s working with the three’s so he doesn’t have the weapons out wide or in the backfield, but he does a heck of a job commanding the huddle, I know that.

When you did two’s vs. one’s with the offense and the number one defense, was it Joey who started out there? Was it Davis? Did you split those reps? How are you handling that right now?
Narduzzi: We started off, Kenny was in there with the one’s Kenny started off with the one’s, and then as soon as we saw enough, we pulled him out. We actually started off with a field goal period; we always work a scrimmage with third down, it might be third-and-7 at the plus-21 yard line, and regardless if they get it or not, then the kickers have to run on the field and kick from that point. So we start off that way with a third-down-and-kick-it period, just to get the kickers used to running out on the field and working the sub there. I think it’s different than any other field goal period.

I think this is the third straight week you’ve brought up Taysir Mack. What’s different about him right now than maybe during the season?
Narduzzi: First of all, he’s healthy. He’s been banged up in the past, knock on some more wood, but we just finished 10 practices, he hasn’t missed a down. He’s played every snap. We do a thing, it’s called 15-of-15, which they’ll get a nice pullover with their name on it and a 15-of-15 - it means they got through 15 practices. It’s not hard to make every one of them, and I would say there’s probably 20 guys that are out already that haven’t got in the 10 so far that we just finished today.

Knock on wood that he gets through 15. It’s hard to get better when you don’t practice, but he had a nice play again today outside and he’s just playing at a high level right now, he’s got a great attitude and I’m really happy with where he is.

You mentioned working on special teams. This year you have more guys than you usually do - combination of more early enrollees and some of your fifth-year guys - does that allow you to do more stuff with teams than you would in most springs?
Narduzzi: It sure does. Usually in the spring we’re going one’s and two’s. Because of the mid-year enrollees and the, you know, we’ve got another 24 extra guys out there with 12 super-seniors, 12 or 13, whatever we’ve got, and then 12 incoming freshmen. We’ve been going a lot of one’s and two’s and three’s. As a matter of fact, for 10 days, it’s been one’s, two’s and three’s almost every day. So our three’s are getting developmental time for sure, which is going to make them a lot better in the end.

Do you have anybody on that third team that has shown some stuff on special teams, maybe on a coverage unit or something like that?
Narduzzi: Well, we don’t do much on special teams as far as, you know, we don’t do much on special teams as far as three teams. Special teams is usually one’s and two’s. But offense and defense will go one’s and two’s and three’s. But you’re asking special teams -

One of those guys that is a third-teamer on the roster but maybe is a one or a two on special teams.
Narduzzi: There’s a lot of those guys and it’s too early to tell. It’s way too early to tell. But P.J. O’Brien is a guy that I might say is a third-team safety right now - and again, he can easily move into a second-team spot - but P.J. is a guy that I can see playing because he’s got a lot of confidence. Kyi Wright has done a lot of good things as well. He might be a third-teamer right now but he’s going to play on special teams and help us out.

You know, Will Gipson is another guy that has come on the last couple days. He had a decent day today. He started off with a lot of mental errors and he has really cleaned it up and become a playmaker for us as well. So he can help us on special teams. Maybe Gavin Thompson as well. He might be another guy that I’d throw on that list.

Going back to Taysir real quick, he’s a guy who had 60-plus catches for you in 2019. How important is it for the offense, for Kenny and for even Jordan with the doubles that he was starting to get last season, to have a healthy Taysir productive next season and taking some of that pressure off the other wide receivers and Kenny and Jordan?
Narduzzi: It’s important. Any time you have more than one go-to guy - and I think Kenny feels comfortable throwing to Taysir; he always has. Then you’ve got Jordan on the other side and, you know, Lucas, it’s going to be - it’s a good problem to have, I can tell you that.

Between Wendell Davis and Chase Pine at middle linebacker, who has an edge right now?
Narduzzi: Right now, I can’t really tell you. I would say it’s a tie right now at that spot. I think there’s a lot of ball to be played still. One scrimmage in, I couldn’t tell you who was better than the other. Chase is playing a little bit of the outside ‘backer as well, but Chase is playing well and Wendell is playing well. They’ve got their strengths and weaknesses that we’ve got to fix and get better at. Nobody’s perfect, and that’s what we’re looking for.

Do you expect that when SirVocea gets back in the mix in fall camp to use him more in the middle or stick with him on the outside?
Narduzzi: I don’t know. We’ll find out. He’s a smart kid that can play anything and we’re going to plug him in and see what he does. I know he’s going to be a heck of a lot better than he was last year, so I think it depends on where we are, who’s in there and who he can beat out. But it could be at Mike, could be at Money, could be at Star. He can play them all, I think.

At cornerback, what have you been seeing over the last few practices? I know you were excited about some of the guys that stepped up in the practices when you got back from the break, but who do you see taking the lead at that position starting at the cornerback spots?
Narduzzi: Right now, like I said, I think A.J. Woods is playing well. I think Damarri Mathis is playing okay; I’ve got a higher standard for Damarri. To me, he’s not where he was last - he’s not where I want him to be yet, but I know he’ll get there; it’s just a matter of time. I think anytime you sit out for a year, it’s hard coming back. It’s not easy. He’s just trying to get in football shape; he was standing around for a year and watching. So he’s just starting to get in the groove, and I hope by practice 15, he’s feeling good there.

Marquis Williams is playing well. I think he had a better scrimmage this past scrimmage than he did the scrimmage before, so I think he’s been really solid as well. Jahvante Royal is getting better. Let’s think of who else we’ve got there…that’s about it, really, right there. That’s who I like.

You mentioned guards, Marcus Minor, a minute ago. Is he at left guard or right guard? And what about Jake Kradel, too - is he settling in as a guard?
Narduzzi: Marcus is playing guard. He’s doing a great job at guard. I don’t know if ‘right guard’ matters. What does it matter? Tell me. Come on.

I like to be specific.
Narduzzi: He’s playing left guard right now. And Kradel’s doing a nice job as well at the other guard position, which would be the right guard.

It looks like they’re going to open recruiting visits the first of June. I know you guys have some guys that are starting to make plans. Obviously that’s important to the lifeblood of your program, but just specifically, what are you looking forward to about getting some recruits back on campus?
Narduzzi: You know what? The best thing about it is, maybe the country is starting to open up a little bit. So I think that’s the first positive, is if we’re starting to do that, I think everybody’s starting to feel more comfortable. I’m not real fired up on that J&J getting shut down; that’s going to slow things down a little bit. But I think the first thing is what the country is all about. We’d obviously like to recruit and get kids on campus. We’ll find a way to get it done, regardless, but it would be exciting to get kids back on campus, have recruits in my office and talk to them and really have a face-to-face relationship.

So many things about recruiting are about relationships that we didn’t really have a year ago, and it’s just amazing the relationships we’ve got with our freshmen that are here right now. Can’t wait to get the new ones on campus. And then in June to be able to open it up which - today’s the 13th; I think in two days they’re going to take some votes there, we’ll find out if we - you know, it seems like the cases are rising everywhere so, you know, a month ago everybody thought June for sure. Who knows? They’re going to vote on it in two days, I guess, the 15th, so we’ll know for sure, but we hope we can bring them on campus, we hope we can do it in a safe way. We want to make sure we’re not negligent on our end. We’ll make sure everybody’s healthy and good there.