The freshmen: Who could play?

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If Pat Narduzzi had his way, every freshman would take a redshirt and spend a year developing before he sees the field.

But the second-year Pitt head coach knows that’s not realistic. Due to depth or standout performance - or both - a few first-year players will get playing time each year. So while he has a preference, Narduzzi doesn’t have a hard-and-fast rule on using freshmen.

“You know, every freshman wants to play but I do think it’s important to redshirt those freshmen,” Narduzzi said Tuesday. “If we could redshirt every guy, I’d love to do it. But if they’re ready to play, we’re going to play them. We’re not going to save them for that fifth year, because they may be gone, too. The landscape of college football and the NFL is to, if you have a great year after your third year, you go take the money. Which I’m all for, as long as you’re a first-rounder.

“But in an ideal world, if you can redshirt every one of them, I think it’s better. A bunch of 18-year-olds - are they going to be better when they’re 18 or 24? That’s what I really say to them: do you think you’ll be better next year at this time? And every one of them will say yes. Then why wouldn’t you wait until next year. Don’t get disappointed when you’re not playing.”

Pitt will certainly have a few freshmen playing this year. Last season, Narduzzi and company used four freshmen: safety Jordan Whitehead, running back Darrin Hall and receivers Quadree Henderson and Tre Tipton.

Narduzzi thinks this year’s total will be in that range.

“I would say four-to-six, but you may not know that until the third game,” he said. “I don’t know if everybody’s ready. There will be some that will be ready on September 3rd and there will be some that will be ready on September 24th or whatever it is. We’re just going to train them to be ready to go and we’ll find out. But there could be four-to-six, I think. I don’t know. There could be three.”

So who could those three, four, five or six be? The defensive tackles - Keyshon Camp and Amir Watts, primarily - seem to have the best odds since Pitt lacks depth at defensive tackle with just four scholarship upperclassmen on the roster.

“It’s not the best players really playing; it’s where there’s weakness that some of those guys might be playing,” Narduzzi said. “So whenever freshmen are playing, you tell me: is it because they’re that good or is it because there’s a weakness there and they’ve got to play?

“An 18-year-old is better than a 23-year-old; I think that’s a fact. But it depends on your depth, so I think it’s, who’s making plays and where you feel strong.”

The secondary also looks like an area where a freshman or two could get on the field. Damar Hamlin appears to be the top candidate at cornerback, although position coach Renaldo Hill indicated last week that the coaches are focused on keeping Hamlin healthy, so his debut could be delayed. But with question marks at cornerback and an increased desire to rotate corners this year, Hamlin’s playing time seems to be more a matter of when rather than if.

Safety Bricen Garner has also turned heads in training camp, but Pitt has two seniors in Reggie Mitchell and Terrish Webb working the free safety position next to Whitehead, so that spot could have enough depth to prevent a freshman from needing to play.

Also on defense, Rashad Weaver appears to be pushing for playing time at end, perhaps in one of the team’s passing-down packages.

Offensively, the list seems to be a bit shorter. Running backs coach Andre Powell has said since the spring that Chawntez Moss would be in the mix. And there seems to be a chance for one of the receivers: Aaron Mathews, Ruben Flowers or Maurice Ffrench.

There can always be a surprise or two among the freshmen as the season progresses, but for now, those look to be the most likely candidates.

“We have a freshman class that I think is outstanding,” Narduzzi said Tuesday. “Are they all ready right now? No. There’s a lot of mental stuff that goes on.”