Even with the loss of Steve Buches, our group of tight ends is possibly the deepest position on the team. Senior Darrell Strong and sophomores Nate Byham and John Pelusi are all going to see playing time — it just depends who will see the most.

Right now the depth chart looks like it is going to be Byham as the starter with Strong and Pelusi each seeing some time on the field.

“Nate came in as the No. 1 guy in the rotation, but we’re going to use all the tight ends,” tight ends coach Brian Angelichio said.

“They all do things a little bit differently. We’re going to use all of their strengths wherever they can help us win football games.”

Pelusi is generally considered the best blocker of the bunch, and Strong, who led Pitt’s TE’s with 15 receptions, 171 yards and three touchdowns in 2006, is thought of as the best pass catcher and route runner. So what is Byham? Darrell Strong has that answer:

Nate is a mixture of me and Pelusi, just a little lighter.

It looks like most of the times that Pelusi and Strong see action will be in two tight end sets.

“I don’t see Nate coming off the field very often,” Wannstedt said. “I don’t see any scenario, unless we go no tight-end, where Nate will be standing next to me [on the sidelines].”

We rarely hear such a straightforward sentence from Wannstedt, but it’s a welcome change. Byham is their man right now, and he says he is feeling some pressure. As long as he can contain it and turn it into productivity then the pressure isn’t all bad. He says even if he were to be dropped to the 2 spot on the depth chart, he’ll still “feel comfortable in [his] role.”

Strong, who the article is mainly focused on, is trying to move forward and forget past actions. You might recall him throwing up his middle finger after a TD at South Florida.

“I’m past [those incidents] right now,” Strong said. “I’m trying to go out this season and surprise myself and everybody that’s around me. I’m definitely looking forward to this season, especially since it’s my senior season.”

He missed two games because of the incident. Meanwhile, sophomore John Pelusi was redshirted last year because of a knee injury, which he says feels fine now. In 2005 as a true freshman he played in 11 games.

Overall, the TE corps looks like it’ll be a solid group — not only this year but with two sophomores, the future looks good too.

“You can put any three of us out there, and we’ll get the job done,” Strong said.

“Having all three of us is not only good for the team, but it gives the coaching staff a lot of options,” Pelusi said.

Awesome.

Kevin Gorman at his Trib. Blog has the latest on Pat Bostick, and it’s good news.

“There’s probably a high likelihood he’ll be there as early as this weekend or early next week at the latest,” Pat Bostick Sr. said when reached at his Lancaster home by telephone this afternoon.

Bostick Sr. declined to elaborate on his son’s unexpected departure, other than to call it a “non-football-related issue” and ask that the family’s privacy be respected.

“It has nothing to do with homesickness or missing his girlfriend,” Bostick Sr. said, rebuffing rumors that circulated on the Internet Tuesday. “He wouldn’t have elected to leave, I can guarantee you that. He was very excited for camp for many reasons. Physically and mentally, he was ready for football.”

That jibes to some degree with the earlier news from Lancaster — at least as far as not being a deeply serious issue.

Deep breath. And relax.

It’s been way too serious here, the last couple of days. That has to stop.

If you aren’t reading Every Day Should Be Saturday, at this point, I don’t know what to tell you. This, though, is the must read as the ladies from Ladies Dot Dot Dot help choose appropriate drinks before watching your favorite team. Orson offered up the Morellitini for Penn State, but here’s the Pitt entry.

Clare – Imp ‘n’ Arn (Pitt)
No Pitt Panther tailgate is complete without three things: 1) Portable beer pong table, 2) ‘DVE blasting from your car speakers, and 3) Imp ‘n’ Arn. The Imp ‘n’ Arn, in its classical form, is a shot of Imperial whiskey chased with a pint of Iron City, but the gameday Imp ‘n’ Arn doesn’t stand on ceremony. It’s a slug of warm rotgut whiskey from the plastic 750 ml bottle your buddy’s been carrying around for three hours in his pants pocket and a red Solo cup of whatever macrobrew you’ve got in the keg. It doesn’t taste good, but it gets you riled up for THE WANNSTACHE.

Friendly: 2
Fiesty: 7
Compliant: 5

Here’s the lead-in for the Hoopies:

OK, Mountaineers fans, let’s clear the carburetor off the kitchen table and start making drinks. We’ll limit the ingredients to things you probably have around the house: grain alcohol, buckshot, a handful of Sudafed, and a block of Velveeta.

Today’s must read.

Someone has definitely been coaching-up LeSean McCoy on his cliches to the media.

“Coach Wannstedt, he wants a lot of things from me, as far as catching the ball and running between the tackles. I’m just going to do everything I can. Hopefully, I’ll do it the best I can,” McCoy said.

…

“It’s different. It’s special,” McCoy said. “We’ve got a lot of great guys on the team. Guys are bigger and faster, and everything is so much quicker. You’ve got to make that right decision at the right time. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck.”

…

“They’re some great guys, talented,” McCoy said. “To say I can compete with them is too far ahead of me. I’m just a freshman trying to do my job and help my team out.”

That’s just plain impressive from one interview. I’m (sniff) so proud.

For every McKenzie Matthews who leaves the team early in camp and it served as bad foreshadowing, there is a T.J. Porter who seemed ready to run but returned and will be looking to be trying to climb the depth chart this season.

To extrapolate whether Pat Bostick is one or the other right now isn’t going to work. Right now, there’s nothing clear. You have a 50-50 chance I suppose. This, though, from Lancaster is encouraging.

Bostick could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but a source close to the quarterback said that Bostick’s decision to leave Pitt and return to Lancaster was for purely personal reasons, and not due to any particular problem.

“He’s going through some of the things we all went through as college freshmen,” the source said.

If that’s all, it’s going to make the angst and columns bemoaning Joe Flacco transferring a couple years ago look silly.

Given the likelihood that Bostick will be away from the team for at least a week, he has little chance of being the starter. That, of course, might make it easier for him to return with at least some pressure off of him as he adjusts.

At this point, it’s Bill Stull #1 and Kevan Smith #2.

Stull worked with the first group in the morning; Smith worked with the second group in the afternoon, and Wannstedt said this is not likely to change.

“We are going to keep Kevan with the second group,” Wannstedt said. “It is not a big thing because both groups are running the same plays, but Billy at this point deserves the opportunity [to play with the first group]. He is a little further ahead, and we want to make sure [the veterans] are working with the more experienced quarterback. It is not just best for Billy Stull, it is the best thing for our football team right now.

“I’m not concerned [about the quarterback position] because we just have to coach Billy up, and he has the ability to play and be an excellent player. And Billy came out of the spring as our starter, so let’s not lose sight of that, either.”

I think Stull will be fine as the starter. He’s got the mentality and kind of approach that OC Matt Cavanaugh and Coach Wannstedt want from the QB. He’s not a risk-taker, he plays within the system and has had two years to learn the system.

Steelers camp started, so Pirates season is over. Or at least we wish…

The Pirates’ Sept. 8 home game against the Chicago Cubs is being listed as a 3:55 p.m. nationally televised game for Fox on that network’s Web site.

Officially, though, the first pitch remains set for 7:05 p.m., as no one has informed the Pirates of a switch.

Although Fox has the right to shift a limited number of games for its national broadcasts, the Pirates can be expected to resist this one because the University of Pittsburgh has a noon football game against Grambling at noon that day at Heinz Field. That could wreak havoc not only with traffic but also with staffing, as the two North Shore stadiums employ many of the same service workers.

The first time I read that (from the P-G, by the way) I couldn’t get past the sentence, “a noon football game against Grambling at noon.” Once I made it through that though, I realized that if the Pirates are unable to get the time changed back to 7:05 then the entire date of the Pitt game could be in trouble.

I’m not certain how the decision works as to whether it will be kept at the time Fox wants or moved to a night game. Looking at the potential amount of room the Pirates have to make a case with, things don’t look too good: One of the worst records in the league (Cubs are fighting for the NL Central lead) and a TV market that is much smaller in comparison to Chicago.

You might remember that the start time of the Michigan State game last year had to be moved to noon because the Pirates have the parking lot priorities and lots need to be emptied 1.5 hours before the first pitch. With a 3:55 first pitch, lots need to be empty at 2:30, so we’d be looking at a 10:30 kickoff…or another Thursday night game.

To go along with the famous Grambling band coming to Pittsburgh, there is going to be a “Battle of the Marching Bands” at the Pete with high school bands from around the area. It is going to be held on September 7 — a Friday. As the message boarder says:

First of all, there aren’t going to be any decent high school marching bands at the event because THEY WILL ALL BE PERFORMING AT THEIR RESPECTIVE SCHOOLS’ FOOTBALL GAMES!!!!!!!!!

Perfect planning, as always.