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The competition for the open Star linebacker job has been one of the top battles in camp, and Pitt defensive coordinator Josh Conklin met the media this week to discuss that position and more.
How’s Bam Bradley looked since he’s been moving around positions?
He’s been doing well. We started him out at the Star linebacker position, and then we felt like maybe he’d fit a little bit more at the Money. The bottom line is that we’ve got to find a couple guys that can play multiple positions, so I feel comfortable that he would know what to do if he got out there, but we wanted to make sure that we moved him around. We got a chance to get some other guys going.
Do you feel more comfortable on the depth at the Star linebacker position?
We feel like we have a little more athleticism out there without Bam. Bam played Money last year, so I think he’s got a really good feel, as far as what’s going on there. We wanted to make sure that he got a look at Star. I think between Elijah [Zeise] and also Seun [Oluwaseun Idowu], we have a chance to get a good group there.
Do you feel like you have a clear-cut starter at the Star position:
No, not at all. This scrimmage coming up will be really important, and then obviously next week before we get into game week. We’re always working to see who’s going to be the next guy.
To be clear, is Bam still in competition for the Star position?
He’s in competition for one of those outside linebacker positions. What we thought would be the best thing was to get him over to Money, let him compete there as well, and just kind of see where our depth is at. What happens sometimes is you run out of reps. You run out of reps for the Star linebacker, you run out of reps for the Money linebacker because of the amount of guys that we have. There’s not much difference as far as what you’re playing, as far as what their assignments are, what their alignments are. So we felt like, let’s get him some reps at Money and we feel comfortable with him at Star already.
Bam has played Money before?
He has, so it wasn’t a huge transition for him.
Do you feels like you have enough depth that in some situations you’ll be able to go to a non-starter consistently?
On third down we feel like we can do that. What we try to do on third down is get our best 11 guys on the field. We want to get a little more speed out there, but you want to get your best pass rushers out on the field, which is really important. You want to get guys that have a knack for making big plays. We’re always moving that around right now too - that depth chart. I feel like by the end of this Saturday and into the middle of next week that we’ll have a pretty good feel for those guys moving forward into game week.
What improvements have you seen from Oluwaseun Idowu and Elijah Zeise?
It’s just a matter of getting to know the package. Elijah [Zeise] doesn’t have as many snaps under his belt as Seun [Oluwaseun Idowu] does, but I’ve felt like they’re both picking it up. We feel like Elijah gives you a little bit of a different dynamic as far as an athlete out there, which is good to see. Seun had a great summer. He got bigger, stronger and faster. He’s had a good camp so far at Base, and then we’ve moved him in and tried to get him some reps at Delta, our third-down package. It probably slowed him down a little bit just because that’s a lot. It’s always working those different dynamics and working those different spots to see where a guy fits, but we feel decent at Star right now, we really do. We just feel like we’ve got to continue to develop those guys.
Are you using Bam on third down at all?
We are. We use him at one of those linebacker positions.
Do you feel like you have enough depth at linebacker?
We really do. I think the linebacker spot, we feel pretty confident about, as far as having enough guys. We’ve got to do a better job of executing what we’re supposed to be doing - our techniques, our fundamentals, all that stuff still, but we’ve got enough guys there. Where we’re hurting right now is obviously the defensive tackle position. We need to develop those guys as well, those young guys. They’ve got to come along
Do any of the freshman defensive tackles look like they might be able to get some playing time?
Yeah, I think they may. It’s just going to kind of depend on moving forward into this week and how they continue to pick it up. We’ve really changed them. Kind of like we challenged [Jordan] Whitehead last year, we’ve challenged those guys to step up and learn the package. They’ve been coming for early walkthroughs with Coach [Tom] Sims. They’ve been staying later. I’ve been working with them a little bit more on the field just doing some mental stuff more than physical, but I feel like those guys might have the potential to help us as the season goes on especially.
Have any of those freshman defensive tackles stood out in particular?
All three of them really. We’ve been repping Rashad Wheeler. We’ve been repping Amir Watts, and obviously Keyshon Camp. All three of those guys. Some days one guy has a great day, and the next day he has a poor day. That’s just part of being of being a freshman. We’ll keep working them.
