Battles for jobs highlight Heinz outing
For the first time in nearly five months, Pitt put on the pads at Heinz Field.
No, you didn’t miss the Blue-Gold game. That won’t happen until April 24. But Pitt typically gets over to the North Shore for a few scrimmages. Saturday was the first time the Panthers have hit anyone at Heinz since their Nov. 21 win over Virginia Tech.
The 155-play scrimmage was closed to the media and public. But Pat Narduzzi provided more than a few highlights at his Tuesday video conference.
• As expected, quarterback Kenny Pickett “had a nice day overall” and is “playing at a high level right now,” Narduzzi said. Wearing a red jersey to avoid being hit, the fourth- year
starter got around 30 snaps before leaving the rest of the reps to his backups.
That’s where much of the intrigue was anyway. Narduzzi wanted to see what Joey Yellen and Davis Beville — the front-runners to be Pickett’s No. 2 — would do.
“You hate to evaluate it all on one day. But we saw good things out of all of them, and we saw bad things out of all of them,” Narduzzi said of the reserve quarterbacks. “We’re still fighting to find out who that guy is.”
Yellen threw an interception, a ball that was put on the money but went off the hands of walk-on receiver Jake McConnachie and fell to sophomore safety Buddy Mack. Beville also threw a pick, a ball that was overthrown in a two-minute situation. Narduzzi mentioned he was pleased with Nick Patti and noted that early enrollee Nate Yarnell did “a heck of a job commanding the huddle” on the thirdteam offense.
• For the third time in as many weeks, Narduzzi brought up wide receiver Taysir Mack.
Mack, Pitt’s second-leading receiver in 2019 with 63 catches and 736 yards, struggled to stay on the field last year with injuries keeping him out of three games. In eight appearances, Mack managed only 23 receptions for 305 yards. But Narduzzi said two weeks ago that Mack has had “an outstanding spring” — and he continued that at Saturday’s scrimmage and into Tuesday’s morning session.
“He’s healthy. He’s been banged up in the past. But we just finished 10 practices, and he hasn’t missed a down. He’s played every snap,” Narduzzi said. “Kenny feels comfortable throwing to Taysir. He always has.”
Narduzzi added that freshman All-American receiver Jordan Addison looked strong at the scrimmage, breaking three tackles on a reception and picking up yards after the catch. That’s a good sign for Addison, whose 11.1 yards per reception ranked last among the 15 Division I-A receivers who had at least 60 catches in 2020.
• Speaking of targets for Pickett, tight end Lucas Krull impressed Narduzzi yet again.
The Florida graduate transfer, who played in one game last season before being sidelined with a knee injury, “is a beast right now,” Narduzzi said. Krull has played so well, in fact, that Narduzzi is considering limiting his reps the rest of spring camp to avoid an unnecessary injury.
“Lucas is playing like first-round material,” Narduzzi said, before literally knocking on wood. “If he keeps practicing like he does, you might not see much of him at the spring game because we just want to make sure he’s safe and healthy.”
• Last year’s spring camp was shortened to three practices due to the emergence of COVID-19. But in that time, two freshmen impressed: Addison and running back Israel Abanikanda. Specifically during Pitt’s final spring practice of 2020, Abanikanda had a 70-yard touchdown run through the heart of the defense that generated some hype.
That hype never produced much of a chance in his freshman season. Abanikanda logged only 28 carries for 95 yards.
But Narduzzi said Abanikanda had a blazing run during the scrimmage, similar to the one he had last spring. And, perhaps more important to his playing time in 2021, the coach said Abanikanda’s pass protection was solid, with only one block missed.
• Maryland transfer Marcus Minor took another step toward locking up a starting job. Since he joined the program in the winter, Minor has worked at left guard, a spot vacated by 27-game starter and NFL hopeful Bryce Hargrove.
“He was physical and the best he’s looked since he’s been here,” Narduzzi said of Minor. “He had a winning performance.”
Elsewhere on the offensive line, it’s still a three-way battle between Carter Warren, Gabe Houy and Matt Goncalves for the two starting tackle spots. Right now, though, Warren and Houy — who started eight games at left and right tackle, respectively, last season — are winning the battle, Narduzzi said.
• After singling out Calijah Kancey and David Green as standout defensive tackles last week, Narduzzi added another name to the mix in Devin Danielson.
“Defensively, the beast up front was Devin Danielson,” Narduzzi said. “He took over inside. He looks like our best D-tackle at this point.”
Danielson, a Thomas Jefferson graduate, played in all 11 games last year, making seven starts and logging three tackles for loss.
• Pitt started its scrimmage by working on special teams and the field goal team in particular. Of course, the Panthers need to replace Alex Kessman, a four-year starter who finished his career as the program’s all-time leader in total field goals (69) and field goals from 50-yards or more (12).
Two kickers are competing in a “heated race” for that job: Redshirt sophomore Sam Scarton and redshirt freshman Ben Sauls, who is on scholarship.
“It’s as heated as any competition we have on the field right now,” Narduzzi said. “We’re getting them exactly the same amount of reps from the proper hash, putting pressure on them. … I think it’s a wash right now. The spring game might be the biggest for the kickers out of any position out there.”
That battle will continue at Thursday’s practice and again when the Panthers have another scrimmage on Saturday at Heinz Field.