On-field questions exist, too
If there’s a season, Pitt needs answers
It might not feel like it — check that, it definitely doesn’t feel like it — but football is getting closer.
Before the Mid-American Conference canceled fall sports, the Panthers originally were scheduled to face Miami of Ohio Sept. 12 at Heinz Field, and Pitt still might replace the RedHawks with a different non-conference opponent. But, for now, Pitt’s first scheduled game of the 2020 season — an ACC game Sept. 19 vs. Syracuse — is a little bit less than a month away.
While there are plenty of questions surrounding the season from a health and safety standpoint because of the COVID-19 pandemic — like, “Will there be a season?” — there also are football questions to answer as training camp pushes forward. Let’s focus on those for the next few minutes.
• With Jaylen Twyman gone, who’s up next? Coach Pat Narduzzi reiterated this week that he “100%” backs Twyman’s decision to opt out of the season and focus on the 2021 NFL draft. Narduzzi called Pitt’s second-team AllAmerican a “great communicator” who prioritized his family in a time of uncertainty.
“It’s important that our kids do what they need to do,” Narduzzi said. “That’s what he felt he needed to do.”
Narduzzi followed up his praise of Twyman by saying he’s unsure if anyone will follow the interior pass-rusher in opting out. Defensive end Patrick Jones II now is Pitt’s highest-profile draft prospect, and he declared his intention
to play two weeks ago — which should be music to defensive line coach Charlie Partridge’s ears.
Partridge already is tasked with replacing one All-ACC pick. But at least he has a few options at defensive tackle, not to mention top-tier players flanking the new starter.
Twyman had 10.5 sacks in 2019 and was slated to line up alongside Keyshon Camp in the interior. Now, Camp — who tore his ACL after wreaking havoc on Virginia’s offensive line in the 2019 season opener — will be partnered with one of the following candidates: Tyler Bentley, Devin Danielson, Calijah Kancey or David Green.
Narduzzi said Bentley, Twyman’s backup who chipped in 2 tackles for loss in 2019, has “really stepped up” in training camp as he prepares for his redshirt sophomore campaign. Narduzzi described Kancey, a redshirt freshman who played in only one game last year, as “electric.” He also complimented Danielson (12 tackles in 2019) and Central Catholic’s Green.
“For a lot of guys, they’re saying, ‘A spot just opened up for me,’ ” Narduzzi added.
Whoever fills it will have the pleasure of playing with Jones, Camp, Rashad Weaver, Deslin Alexandre, Habakkuk Baldonado and more. Talk about a coveted role.
• Will one rusher take over the backfield? “I’d like to get Tony Dorsett back here. That would solve a lot of problems,” offensive coordinator Mark Whipple said, with a laugh, two weeks ago when asked if Pitt will implement a by-committee approach. “But it’ll kind of sort itself out. We’re deeper. … They’re competing now.”
That doesn’t sound like a one-man backfield. Which is OK at this point.
Pitt’s running game was bad last year. Really, really bad. The Panthers averaged 118.77 rushing yards per game (118th in Football Bowl Subdivision), 3.5 yards per carry (118th) and 11 rushing touchdowns (121st).
One could argue Whipple didn’t give it much of a chance with pass-happy play-calling, while another could argue he had no reason to try. But both have to change in 2020 if Pitt wants to keep defenses guessing and score more than 21.2 points per game.
The Panthers do have their top three rushers back: A.J. Davis (530 yards), Vincent Davis (314 yards) and Todd Sibley (249 yards). They also have freshman Israel Abanikanda champing at the bit, and former four-star recruit Daniel Carter is in the mix, as well.
The running back situation won’t be solved in August, especially with a spot on the offensive line still up for grabs. Hampton transfer Keldrick Wilson will make a play for the open right tackle job, along with Gabe Houy and Carson Van Lynn. But once that line is set, perhaps one of Pitt’s backs will settle behind it.
• Who will back up Kenny Pickett? Well, there are three options: Nick Patti, Davis Beville and Joey Yellen.
Patti is the only one of the trio who has played a snap for Pitt. The redshirt sophomore started in place of an injured Pickett against Delaware in September and with a conservative play sheet from which to work, Patti tallied 271 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 23-of-37 passing in Pitt’s 17-14 win.
Beville, a four-star prospect in the 2019 class, has not seen the field for Pitt. Neither has Yellen, an Arizona State transfer who was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA last week.
When asked two weeks ago where the battle stood, Whipple offered a non-answer. Narduzzi kept that vagueness going, saying Pitt has “three really good backups.”
“Kenny’s our starter right now, but you’d love to have two guys ready to go and feel like, ‘Man, either one of these guys are good,’ ” Narduzzi added.
Conventional wisdom would point toward Patti if Pickett got hurt or sick. Beville would make sense, too, given that he has been at Pitt longer than Yellen’s January arrival.
But there’s something to be said about being hand-selected by the offensive coordinator, which Patti and Beville were not. Yellen, meanwhile, was pursued by Whipple two hours after he entered the transfer portal.
Yellen didn’t come to Pitt to play third or fourth fiddle. He pushed for eligibility for a reason, and now that he has it, he’s “trying to make myself available if I’m needed.” And he might be.
• Can Pickett put together a special season? By himself, no. According to Narduzzi, though, Pickett has the mentality to make it happen.
“He’s locked in,” Narduzzi said Aug. 7 of his quarterback. “His face is a little bit different. He knows this is his last year, and this is real. … People better watch out.”
Whipple admitted to perhaps asking Pickett to do too much in 2019, but that shouldn’t be an issue this year. Pickett knows the ins and outs of the offense, and he ought to be comfortable throwing the ball 40 times per game. After handing it off more often than not in 2018, Pickett set Pitt records in attempts (469) and completions (289) last year. His 39.1 attempts per game ranked third in FBS.
Pickett’s 61.6 completion percentage was 51st, and his 6.6 yards per attempt ranked 91st. Which is not what you want if you’re Whipple or Narduzzi. As Narduzzi noted in his first media session of training camp, Pickett had to not only overcome his own inconsistencies but also those of his teammates.
Pitt had 44 drops in 2019, per Sports Info Solutions. That was the most in the country and the highest total in the ACC by a wide margin (Clemson was second with 34). Add those 44 drops to Pickett’s 289 completions, and his connection rate rises nearly 10 points to 71%. That would have been good for fifth nationally last year.
But there is precedent for Whipple’s second-year starters making significant leaps. Andrew Ford, Whipple’s three-year starter at Massachusetts, saw his completion percentage (60.8 to 63.2%), yards per attempt (7.3 to 8.3) and efficiency rating (138.0 to 151.1) rise from his first to second season under the playcaller. The Panthers would welcome that kind of jump from Pickett … and cooperation from his receivers.
“Kenny Pickett cannot be a top quarterback in the country if he doesn’t have blocking for him and receivers catching it,” Narduzzi said. “Everyone was yelling at Kenny like, ‘Come on Kenny, what are you doing?’ But someone’s got to catch the football.”
• So, who will be catching the football? It won’t be Maurice Ffrench, who is with the Kansas City Chiefs after logging a program-record 96 receptions for the Panthers in 2019. It won’t be Dontavius Butler-Jenkins, either, after the receiver’s career with Pitt ended due to injuries. And running back V’Lique Carter, a former receiver and versatile piece out of the backfield, transferred to Albany.
But Taysir Mack, Pitt’s second-leading receiver last year with 63 catches and 736 yards, returns. So does Shocky Jacques-Louis (348 yards), Jared Wayne (261 yards) and sixth-year senior Tre Tipton. Pitt also welcomes new tight end Lucas Krull and freshman wideout Jordan Addison, among others. All things considered, it’s a solid core with potential.
Krull — a Florida transfer who moves better than departed tight ends Will Gragg and Nakia Griffin-Stewart — should allow the Panthers to stretch the field more, which was an issue in 2019. Pitt had only 15 passing plays of 30 yards or more last year.
Addison’s speed and experience in high school out of the slot ought to be valuable. It also helps that the freshman was around for Pitt’s abbreviated spring camp, was on Zoom calls with coaches during the quarantine days and experienced July walkthroughs with the staff — a COVID-era addition to the preseason schedule.
Now a week into full-on training camp, Narduzzi said Addison, a 2020 four-star prospect per 247 Sports, has “the nicest, softest, smoothest hands” and is “electric.”