Pitt camp preview: Five position battles to watch

Pitt training camp starts next Monday, and as Pat Narduzzi heads into Year Two leading the Panthers, he and his staff will have a few position battles to settle before the season opener against Villanova on Sept. 3.

Here’s a rundown of the top five position battles for training camp 2016 - and the most likely candidate to win each competition.

CORNERBACK
Gone from Pitt’s roster is Lafayette Pitts, the talented but inconsistent athlete from Woodland Hills who started 51 of the Panthers’ last 52 games, a remarkable run that is unmatched in Pitt history and unlikely to be matched in the future.

Now the Panthers need someone to step in opposite Avonte Maddox, and the options are both new and old. From the latter group, there is redshirt senior Ryan Lewis - listed first on the media guide’s preseason two-deep - and redshirt sophomore Phillipie Motley (along with redshirt freshmen Malik Henderson and Dane Jackson, although Lewis and Motley are the main upperclassmen).

But the other category - the “new” - is the intriguing one, because it contains arguably the top recruit in Pitt’s 2016 class: Damar Hamlin. A four-star prospect out of Central Catholic, Hamlin had no shortage of options but chose Pitt for a variety of reasons, the most prominent of which was the opportunity for early playing time.

The coaches showed last season that they will play freshmen who earn playing time and start freshmen who earn starting roles, and they approached spring camp with a very clear “TBD” on the open cornerback spot, as Lewis and the rest of the returning players knew the real competition would start when Hamlin and fellow freshman corner Therran Coleman arrived. So far this summer, Hamlin and Coleman have been impressing the coaches, and while Coleman is an outstanding athlete, Hamlin is probably a bit further along in his development, and that should give him the edge among the freshmen in the competition.

Can Hamlin, a freshman, beat Lewis, a redshirt senior? That remains to be seen. The coaches could follow the approach they took with Jordan Whitehead last season - waiting until the second game to name him a starter - but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Hamlin win the starting job outright. Either way, he’s going to be in the rotation and will see the field this season.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE
Pitt lost a pair of seniors at defensive tackle after last season but not necessarily a lot of production. Khaynin Mosley-Smith and Darryl Render combined to start 18 games last season, but in those 18 starts (and 24 total games played) they managed just 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. The lone returning starter at defensive tackle - senior Tyrique Jarrett, who started eight games - was a bit better with seven tackles for loss and two sacks, but more is needed from the interior of the defensive line.

Jarrett is in place as the starter at nose tackle, but he’ll need someone next to him, and that’s the position that is up for grabs. Contending for the three-technique defensive tackle spot are returning upperclassmen Jeremiah Taleni and Justin Moody, but the most likely candidate to start is senior Shakir Soto.

A three-year letter-winner who spent the past three seasons at defensive end, Soto shifted inside to defensive tackle this offseason, and the move looks like one that will benefit all parties. Soto didn’t produce much as a pass-rusher off the edge - three sacks and eight tackles for loss in 39 games over the last three seasons - but defensive tackle could be a good position for him. He has bulked up to nearly 300 pounds, and he should be able use quickness as a strength when battling interior offensive linemen.

Given the paucity of experience at defensive tackle - Taleni, Moody and converted defensive end Shane Roy have combined totals of three career starts and one sack - Soto enters training camp as the front-runner to start next to Jarrett. And while freshmen Keyshon Camp and Amir Watts will battle for playing time, they will likely be behind Soto and Jarrett.

WIDE RECEIVER
Every preview of Pitt football 2016 will feature this position, and for good reason after the Panthers lost all-time leading receiver Tyler Boyd to the Cincinnati Bengals. Boyd caught 91 passes and was targeted more than 130 times in 12 games last season, and he was the most explosive playmaker on a team that was lacking in that department.

Now Boyd is gone, and the big question is this: Who will fill that void? The simple answer (as it was the year after Aaron Donald graduated) is that no single player will replace Boyd’s production. Instead, the offensive staff will look for several candidates to make up the difference. Dontez Ford will enter camp as one presumptive starter at receiver; the other spot will be up for grabs with the likes of Jester Weah, Zach Challingsworth, Tre Tipton, Quadree Henderson and Rafael Araujo-Lopes battling for it.

Those players will attempt to collectively get the numbers that Boyd provided; the starter opposite Ford is yet to be determined. Weah probably has the best chance of getting the nod if he has truly turned the corner and found some consistency in his focus and pass-catching. Tipton and Henderson are also candidates due to the staff’s high opinion of them.

As is often the case, though, the starting designations will likely become moot with the staff rotating receivers to create varying personnel groupings that can challenge defenses in different ways.

RIGHT TACKLE
Pitt didn’t lose a starter at right tackle from last season; rather, the Panthers added what essentially amounts to a returning starter, and the result is the kind of position battle coaches love to have.

Brian O’Neill was one of the breakout stories last season, stepping in at right tackle and starting the final 11 games of the season after Jaryd Jones-Smith suffered a season-ending injury over the summer. O’Neill’s transition from tight end wasn’t always easy, but by the end of the season, he was playing well enough to give the staff a lot of confidence in him.

That confidence carried over to spring camp as Jones-Smith continued to rehab from his knee injury. But now he’s healthy and ready to get into the starting lineup. As a redshirt freshman in 2014, Jones-Smith was part of a unique offensive line rotation: stepping in at left tackle for a few series each game while also earning three starts. The pre-injury plan heading into 2015 was that he would be the starting right tackle, and now that he’s back, he’s got his focus on winning that position.

Meanwhile, the coaches are the real winners, because they’ll have two experienced linemen who have NFL measureables battling for the right tackle job. And whichever player ends up not winning the job can step inside and start at right guard, giving Pitt an offensive line that, when healthy, should be one of the best in the ACC, if not the nation.

It’s tough to handicap this battle before training camp starts, particularly since Jones-Smith hasn’t had a full practice since April 2015. But if he’s close to being what he was before the injury, he’ll likely end up starting at right tackle with O’Neill next to him.

STAR LINEBACKER
This is a big one for Pitt. As the defensive staff adapts to facing more spread offenses and dangerous speed, the coaches need the “Star” linebacker - a hybrid strong safety/outside linebacker - who can be strong in run support but also drop into coverage. It’s a unique position but one that defenses have to incorporate as offenses continue to evolve.

The problem is, the coaches don’t seem to have a great option right now. Nicholas Grigsby was the starter last season but he graduated, leaving no one with any significant game experience at the position. Redshirt senior Mike Caprara took a few snaps there last season, but his focus is at the other outside linebacker position (the “Money”).

The problem was compounded this spring when a few players who could potentially take over the Star position - Anthony McKee, Bam Bradley and Quintin Wirginis - were out with an injury. So the position ended up being manned by two converted safeties, Jalen Williams and Oluwaseun Idowu, and a converted receiver, Elijah Zeise. Idowu and Zeise are listed as “OR” starters in the media guide’s preseason two-deep, but the competition will change significantly in training camp.

In addition to McKee (who will work exclusively at the Star) and Bradley and Wirginis (who could get a look there), Zeise and Idowu will also have to watch out for a freshman or two. The coaches have been steadfast in their belief that any of the three newcomers - Kaezon Pugh, Chase Pine or Elias Reynolds - could play any of the three linebacker spots. The staff probably has a bit more specific plan for the freshmen, but at least one, if not more, of them will get a look at the Star.

The starting job probably won’t go to a freshman, but there should be plenty of competition with Zeise, Idowu, McKee and possibly one or more of the other upperclassmen. Bradley might be a top option here given his experience, but the coaches will have a lot to consider in training camp.