MORE HEADLINES - FREE ARTICLE: Houy says Pitt is it | Film Room Monday: How Houy fits on Pitt's offensive line | Camp preview: Five position battles to watch
As the Pitt football team prepares for training camp, which starts next Monday, the coaches will have plenty of questions to answer on the field. Whether they’re looking for new starters at key positions, trying to solidify depth or searching for ways to increase production, Pat Narduzzi and his staff will be focused on quite a few issues over the next four weeks.
Today, Panther-Lair.com’s preview of training camp 2016 continues with a look at the biggest question marks facing the Panthers.
WIDE RECEIVER
There is an obvious hole on Pitt’s roster this season, and it is the void left by the early departure of the most productive receiver in school history. Tyler Boyd is gone to the NFL, having taken his 91 receptions and 130+ targets from 2015 with him.
That’s a lot of passes that need to go somewhere; the question is who will be lining up to catch them.
Redshirt senior Dontez Ford is fairly entrenched as a starter after filling that role in nine games last season, and with 29 career receptions, he’s easily the most experienced and productive of the group. In fact, the rest of the roster of receivers has combined to catch fewer passes than Ford’s 29 - which is already a low number.
So the coaches will be looking for someone who is inexperienced, to one degree or another. Zach Challingsworth has played in 20 games over the last two seasons, but he has 12 career receptions (all in 2015). And Chris Wuestner and Quadree Henderson have each caught two passes in his career at Pitt.
Henderson is a candidate for the open starting job, as are Jester Weah and Tre Tipton. Henderson and Tipton played as true freshmen last season, while Weah’s tantalizing speed and athleticism have been offset by inconsistency. The coaches seemed to feel that Weah turned a corner in spring camp; if they’re right and that continues into August and beyond, the redshirt junior from Wisconsin could be a boost to the position, but for now, that’s all hypothetical.
Similarly, freshman receivers Ruben Flowers, Maurice Ffrench and Aaron Mathews are all intriguing athletes, but it’s difficult to project their impact before camp starts.
What’s known is this: Pitt should have a strong running game that takes pressure off the passing attack, and that defensive focus should open up opportunities for the inexperienced receivers to have some success. But the coaches will need to see something from those players this month in order to have a little more confidence going into the season.
BACKUP QUARTERBACK
This may not be the biggest issue - receiver is bigger - but the situation is nonetheless quite dire. Nathan Peterman enters 2016 as a key piece for Pitt, a central figure in whatever success the Panthers might enjoy. But if something happens that would cause him to miss any significant amount of time, Pitt’s offense will enter uncharted territory.
That territory is uncharted because no one behind Peterman has any real experience to speak of. The scholarship roster after Peterman consists of redshirt freshman Ben DiNucci and freshman Thomas MacVittie. Obviously neither of those players has seen a live snap for Pitt; nor has redshirt senior walk-on Manny Stocker, who finished spring camp as the apparent No. 2 behind Peterman.
And inexperience isn’t the only concern, since all three backup options are virtual unknowns. Stocker is the closest thing to a known commodity, but he played receiver last year after transferring from UT-Martin. DiNucci came to Pitt with raw tools but needing quite a bit of development. And MacVittie, who probably has the highest upside of them all, also has just one year of experience as a starting quarterback.
So while the coaches will have to identify a backup during training camp, Matt Canada and company will hope they can stick with Peterman for 13 games in 2016.
RUNNING BACK ROTATION
Unlike receiver and backup quarterback, the running back position falls into the category of “good problem to have,” since Pitt returns the 2015 ACC Rookie of the Year, the 2014 ACC Player of the Year, a promising sophomore, a freshman who impressed in the spring and a redshirt junior whose situational work has been quite productive.
The running backs have been the talk of the town since spring camp, when sophomore Darrin Hall and freshman Chawntez Moss seemed to eclipse redshirt sophomore and leading returning rusher Qadree Ollison, and that talk only intensified as redshirt junior James Conner got a clean bill of health after his battle with cancer. Add in redshirt junior Rachid Ibrahim, and Pitt has a five-headed monster of backs who mix experience and pedigree.
Pitt should have a very potent rushing attack this season, anchored by a strong offensive line and operated by a combination of running backs. Figuring out the best way to use those backs will be one of the focal points for Canada in training camp, and while that’s the kind of question coaches enjoy solving, it’s still one that needs an answer heading into the season.
DEFENSIVE PRODUCTION
While Ejuan Price had one of the highest single-season sack totals in Pitt history and Jordan Whitehead was the team’s leading tackler and Mike Caprara and Matt Galambos set career highs in virtually every category, the Panthers’ defense had some productivity holes in 2015.
Primarily, those holes boiled down to three positions: the two interior defensive line spots and the “Star” linebacker.
Last season, five defensive tackles combined to record 12.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. On the positive side for Pitt, most of that production came from Tyrique Jarrett and he’s back this season. But even his numbers - 7 TFL, 2 sacks - leave a lot to be desired, even for a position that isn’t necessarily expected to put up big stats.
As for the Star linebacker, the Pitt coaches hoped for more production from the position. Nicholas Grigsby started all 13 games there as a redshirt senior last season, but his totals of 9.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and two pass breakups weren’t what the coaches wanted. The options to replace Grigsby are pretty much all inexperienced, but finding a way to get more production out of the Star linebacker is a big focus for the defensive coaches this month.
THE RETURN GAME
Special teams may seem slightly less significant in the shadow of the receiver position or the need for defensive production, but the return game is one area the coaches really want to improve in 2016. The Panthers averaged just under 25 yards per kickoff return and 6.3 yards per punt return in 2015, and for a team that will make every effort to win with a ball-control style, field position is key - which places even more emphasis on the return game.
Pitt certainly has a few players who look like they could be effective returners. Quadree Henderson can take credit for essentially the lone bright spot in Pitt’s bowl loss to Navy after he returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Avonte Maddox has quickness, Jordan Whitehead has plenty of moves and there are a few freshmen who could contribute there as well.
Overall, the coaches felt like they could have gotten more out of the return game last season, and special teams coordinator Andre Powell will continue to tweak the scheme this month in order to get the extra yards Pitt will need in 2016.
