Panthers working to improve in red zone
Settling for FGs results in losses
Consistency, for starters. Mark Whipple stated the obvious when asked where his offense has to improve. Then, the coordinator exhaled and let out what felt like a tired plea, a point you could tell he has made time and time again over the past eight months.
“We gotta finish drives in the end zone,” Whipple said Friday after Pitt’s first practice of training camp. “... We justg otta finish.”
It’s certainly a point that bears repeating. Pitt has been woeful at capitalizing on its red-zone opportunities, both from a statistical and situational perspective, the past two seasons. Whipple knows it. Kenny Pickett knows it. The entire offense knows it needs to be corrected if the Panthers are going to break outof mediocrity this fall.
There are solutions, and the Panthers are placing a premium on working out the inefficiencies in camp. But before delving into that effort, we have to look at how Pitt got to this point.
In 2019, Whipple’s first season, the Panthers ranked 118th nationally in red-zone touchdown conversion rate (47.37%). It was a poor first impression, but it wasn’t surprising given the Panthers’ myriad of issues. They couldn’t run the ball (118th in rushing yards per game), weren’t explosive (109th in plays of 30plus yards) and, by association, weren’t in the red zone enough to find a groove. Pitt’s 38 trips were the second-fewest nationally among teams that played 13 games.
That wasn’t the issue in Whipple’s second season. Pitt’s 47 red-zone trips in 11 games was tied for 20th in the country last year. That ranking is skewed a bit by other teams not playing as many games. But more than four red-zone opportunities per game?Whipple will take that.
“We’re explosive enough that we’re getting down there,” Whipple said. “It was hard enough getting down there the first year. Now, we’re getting down there. But we just have to do a better job.”
Pitt’s red-zone touchdown conversion rate in 2020 was 57.45%, or 90th nationally. And that figure is boosted significantly by the Panthers’ 550 drubbing of Division I-AA foe Austin Peay. Pitt had six of its 27 red-zone touchdowns in that running- clock blowout.
In conference play, the Panthers’ touchdown conversion rate dropped to 51.22% — slightly better than 2019, but nothing to get excited about.
Pitt scored touchdowns on 21 of 41 red-zone opportunities in ACC play, basically a 50-50 proposition. And it helped lead to losses on two occasions.
Pitt had three red-zone failures in its 30-29 loss to N.C. State, a defeat that blocked what would have been the Panthers’ first 4-0 start since 2000. Those who watched probably remember the four consecutive stuffed runs at the 1 — a microcosm of Pitt’s struggles. But the Panthers also settled for field goals from the11 and 9.
The same problems persisted two weeks later at Miami. Joey Yellen was quarterbacking in place of an injured Pickett, so a pass could be given. But field goals from the 6, 12, 15 and 17 — a year after the Panthers settled for four red-zone field goals in a home loss to Miami — felt like acase of
The answer to Pitt’s frustrations? Pickett offered two.
“We want to exploit mismatches more. With these receivers and Lucas [Krull] at tight end, I think we’ll have that opportunity,” he said. “And then obviously having a run game. If we can run the ballin side the 5, it takes a lot of pressure off the passing game. It opens up the play action, and it opens up a lot more things we can do down there.”
Running the ball with greater success — the singlebiggest problem since Whipple arrived — is an obvious focus. On its six red-zone drives that ended in field goals against N.C. State and Miami, Pitt dialed up tailback runs on only 2 of 18 plays. There was no reason for Whipple to trust the ground game in tight, but it was given only a halfhearted
That being said, Pitt had nine rushing scores in its lateseason wins over Florida State, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. Maybe there’s something to build on. And even if the running game falls completely on its face, Pickett’s bolstered pass-catching options alone could make the red-zone offense respectable.
The most talked about piece of that puzzle is Krull, a 6-foot-6 Thor look-alike. Krull transferred to Pitt ahead of the 2020 season from Florida, where he lost out on snaps to eventual NFL first-rounder Kyle Pitts. No shame in that. But Krull’s first year with the Panthers hardly went the way he wanted, playing in one game before a knee injury ended his year.
Whipple said the tight end was “part of the plan” when Pitt repped its red-zone plays this time last year. That hasn’t changed.
“Touchdowns,” Krull said, when asked what he hopes to provide in the red zone. “At the end of the day, that’s my job. When Kenny throws it up to me, I gotta come down with it and score. That’s where I gotta thrive, and that’s where I will thrive. That’s what you’re going to see all fall. That’s the main reason why I came here.”
Krull’s confidence is shared by Pickett, as well as the fourth-year starter’s other targets. Freshman All-American receiver Jordan Addison will get more looks, moving around the offense after sticking in the slot last fall. Jumpball specialist Taysir Mack is healthy after enduring hernia and ankle surgeries in 2020. And 6-3, 210-pound wideout Jared Wayne is itching to make his mark.
Wayne came on as a freshman in 2019, starting Pitt’s final four games and snagging his first touchdown in the Quick Lane Bowl. But in 2020, Wayne missed three games and 38 days of in-season work after being placed in COVID19 contact tracing quarantine twice and contracting the virus in November.
Wayne is someone Pickett could throw to “with a blindfold on,” the quarterback said earlier this summer. The wideout is hoping that relationship — and the offense’s collective offseason efforts — bears fruit in the red zone.
“It’s been a big focus for us this summer,” Wayne said witha wide smile.
“We left a lot of meat on the bone last year,” Whipple added. “We see a confident group, a hungry group and one that’s a little more together. ... Wejust have to be better with a planand scheme....”