Stocker in thick of safety battle
season?
“People can know how you pronounce it and stuff like that,” said Stocker, who went by Jay because it was easier to say. “They’ll hear it during the game now instead of Jay.”
No, no, the question here is whether the name change might coincide with becoming a bigger name for Pitt’s defense …
“I’m gonna do whatever I can to provide for the team,” Stocker said. “It would be nice to do whatever I can to get out there and help get those Ws.”
Spoken like a man embroiled in a position tug-ofwar, as Stocker is at free safety, or as Pitt calls it in its defense, “field safety.” That’s where Whitehead will be this season, but with him suspended for the first three games, whoever assumes the role figures to have his work cut out for him against potent passing offenses Penn State and Oklahoma State.
Stocker, a redshirt sophomore, is neck and neck with Central Catholic graduate Bricen Garner, a redshirt freshman. At least that’s what Narduzzi said Thursday, even implying that neither may win the job outright by the end of training camp.
“It’s been a back-andforth battle for those guys. … That depth chart keeps going like this,” Narduzzi said, making a flipping motion with his hands, “which is a good thing. That’s what you wanna see when there’s competition. Both those guys are gonna play a lot of football for us. It might be one of those ‘or’ positions.”
At 6 feet 2, 190 pounds, the word Stocker uses most to describe himself is “physical.” Garner, meanwhile, has similar size at 6-1, 180, and was a WPIAL champion in the triple jump his senior year of high school.
The mentality and athleticism are there, so now it’s just a matter of sharpening the technique for both. Defensive coordinator Josh Conklin and his staff have talked about that very challenge.
“Just the importance of guys doing their job and guys buying in,” Conklin said. “There’s obviously some measurables that you have to meet, but you gotta have guys that really study, really understand it, really wanna understand it, know what to expect. … I really believe this: You can play good team defense if you’ve got 11 guys that understand it. Even though you might not see a superstar out there, or a bunch of superstars, or guys who have five stars or four stars coming out in the recruiting rankings, they can get it done if they understand the concepts.”
Stocker said he and Garner prepared for more responsibility all summer, and Whitehead’s temporary absence just makes for a bigger opportunity. While he had just 12 tackles last season as a backup, Stocker welcomes anyone to watch his highlight tapes from high school and see how much he likes to lay the wood.
“I’m more of a comedown hill type,” he said. “Fill the holes.”
Allow Conklin to elaborate on that.
“You feel him out there,” the defensive coordinator said of Stocker.
“He’s athletic, he’s strong, he’s physical, he flies to the football. He’s reckless with his body.”
Conklin also threw out the name of redshirt freshman Henry Miller, who certainly looks the part of a bigtime player at 6-3, 205 pounds. Miller is getting a glimpse at both safety spots, but secondary coach Renaldo Hill thinks he might be able to do even more than that.
“He’s kind of like a wildcard guy,” Hill said. “He can go out and play corner, he’s big enough to play both safety positions, and probably even linebacker. He definitely gives you a variety of things you can do when you look at his size and skill-set.”
Whoever fills the shoes of Whitehead for the first few weeks — and maybe even longer, because you never know — will be short on experience. The safeties have from now until Sept. 2 to make up for lost time.
A Panther by any other name, Stocker will go to sleep Fridaynight looking forward tothe Saturday scrimmage at Heinz Field, one Narduzzi will use as a measuring stick goingforward.
“I’m definitely hype,” he said.
“I’m gonna go out there and hit.”