Derek Kinder doesn’t want to be just the 3rd receiver.
“I want to start,” Kinder said. “I want to be that second receiver. I want to be there right behind Greg [Lee] and even pushing Greg. That’s what all of our goals should be. It is nice to get some time and be recognized right now, but it doesn’t mean a thing yet.
“Coach made it clear he wants us to be pushing for that starting job and so that’s what my goal has always been. This is a good start, being third, but I haven’t done anything yet.”
Kinder’s attitude — along with his improved play and consistency — is a big reason he has been moved into the third receiver spot. His desire, however, is why coaches don’t doubt he’ll continue to climb the depth chart.
“Derek has goals, he has dreams,” wide receivers coach Aubrey Hill said. “He wants to be the best. He is always trying to learn from Greg [Lee] or get tidbits from Joe [Delsardo] and then trying to use them to make himself a better player. So there is no doubt in my mind that he isn’t settling for third. He wants to be No. 1.[“]
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One other area where Kinder, who played in nine games last year as a true freshman and caught one pass, has separated himself from the others is as a blocker. A big part of Pitt’s offense is running the football, so receivers must be involved in downfield blocking.“That’s the hardest thing to understand when you are new to this,” Kinder said. “Blocking is important. Everyone wants to catch passes. I want to be the most complete receiver I can be, so I have really tried to take pride in my blocking and work on ways to become better at it.”
With Pitt looking to run a lot more, a receiver willing to do the blocking and dirty work stands a great chance of getting in the game. You would hope that maybe someone asks Hines Ward of the Steelers to stop buy and advise a little.
Coach Hill indicated that redshirt freshman Marcel Pestano will be the 4th WR , with freshman Oderick Turner pushing also. Terrell Allen and Marcus Furman are somewhere in the mix, but are already unable to stay healthy.
Furman is still expected to be playing on special teams. He just wants to help the team.
Fullback Kellen Campbell is still waiting to find out where he fits on the Panther depth chart.
“I’ve had a new running backs coach just about every year I’ve been here,” Campbell said with a laugh. “So at least I’m used to proving myself to a new position coach.”
As camp draws to a close, the question hanging over the running back lineup is whether senior Tim Murphy will be used as a tailback or a fullback.
“We’ve got some good fullbacks,” Wannstedt said. “Kellen Campbell and Justin Acierno, those guys can both line up and play.
“The decision’s to be made is, is Tim Murphy one of our two or three best tailbacks or do we leave him at fullback?”
That decision likely won’t be finalized until next week, when Wannstedt and his crew begin planning for the opener against Notre Dame.
So once again, Campbell will have to wait a while longer before learning his fate.
Campbell could be anywhere from 1st to 3rd on the depth chart. Then there will be worrying about what happens when Shane Brooks or Conredge Collins gets shifted over to FB.
While it seemed obvious that H.B. Blades is something of the vocal leader — or at least the front man/face — of the defense, apparently Coach Wannstedt is still looking for linemen on the defense to take charge. Okay.
Redshirt freshman Adam Gunn attracted attention for his move from Safety to Outside Linebacker. As is the danger for multiple newspaper coverage, you have two stories with virtually the same headline — I guess there are only so many variations the headline editors can concoct.
At 6-foot-1 and 220-plus pounds, Gunn’s a little heavy to play in the secondary at Pitt and a little light for linebacker. But he was moved from safety to outside linebacker in the summer and has been a pleasant surprise during training camp this week at the UPMC Sports Complex.
“The position change with Gunn has been good,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “He’s got enough speed to play linebacker, but he wasn’t going to be fast enough to play in the secondary.
“When you move a guy from safety to linebacker, sometimes you’ll find out if they’ll be willing to handle the toughness part of it. But I’m real encouraged with where Adam is at right now.”
Pitt linebackers coach Curtis Bray told Gunn that the transition from safety would be tough, but Gunn took that as a challenge and met it head on.
“I’m loving it right now,” Gunn said.
It has been a change he has been working on since the spring.
Gunn got the news after spring drills, and he spent the summer preparing for his new role. He had plenty of time to study the playbook, meet with Bray, watch film and get a lot of reps in summer workouts.
“This year, I’m coming in thinking any day I could be the starter,” Gunn said. “Last year, I didn’t approach it like that.”
Working mostly at the strong-side (Sam) spot, Gunn is backing up Clint Session and Derron Thomas. But with both of those players nursing injuries, he has gotten more action during workouts the past few days.
He has speed, and with Coach Wannstedt, that will get him in the game.
