As far as replacing Dickerson, I think we go away from the skilled tight end to the skilled slot receiver – Greg Cross in an Antwan Randle El old Steelers-like role, catching, running and even passing from the slot. But, I’m an eternal optimist too.

BTW, another headline in yesterday’s PG sports was JoePa saying “we’re not a very good football team right now.” Boy, that is unique .. we never heard that one before!

I have no concerns at Tight-end as long as they can block. There is no shortage of people to throw to.

My concerns are all on defense. The line should be great. Not sure about the linebackers. I hope Mason is the stud that everyone seems to agree he is. Outside we have some experience but no real strength. Not sure about depth. People seem to think safeties will be fine when DeCicco and Tags return. DeCicco was late to many plays last year and Tags had a serious injury and is small. He is a vicious hitter and has the best football instincts, one of the best special teams guys I have seen. Let’s hope he gets and stays healthy. Holley provides good depth, may step up to start. Corners were weak last year. Big question mark, can they step up? They are inexperienced.If they do, the whole D will be better.

Special teams are also key. Probably cost a victory against Cinci.

Will any freshmen see the field this year? Maybe on special teams. Let’s hope for a couple of surprises, but unless there is a stud linebacker or D-back, I don’t see it happening. Says a lot for how far we have come.

My major concern is the outside LB’s, starters are a concern and lack of quality depth, but you never know who might step it up.

Actually the secondary will be much better unless there is an injury or two.

Center and one guard position on the OL is also a concern, but Tony Wise is a very good coach and he will get what he can out of what he has to work with.

Otherwise, Pitt should have a better team this year but might have a worse (wins – loss) record due to the upgrade in the non-con schedule.

Utah is going to be very difficult, Miami is very dangerous and ND will be much better coached.

I hope you are right about the secondary. If we continue to rush only four, individual d-backs must make plays. To me they have to prove it on the field. Other than DeCicco, none have played much.

The offense is clearly good enough to win the Big East and be a top ten team assuming reasonably good Q-B play. It is ironic that we now have more concerns on Defense.

It is good that we have a strong non-com schedule. Playing Utah without a warm-up is gutsy, but if you aspire to the top ten the upgrade is necessary.

Let’s hope this is the year we win the big ones, not just the ones you are supposed to win.

Hell, he’s the heart and soul of the DB.

Safety has been a patchwork position because injuries kept Dom DeCicco and Andrew Taglianetti from practicing this spring, and Elijah Fields was dismissed earlier this year. But the situation has helped sophomore Jarred Holley, defensive backs coach Jeff Hafley said.

“Last year, Jarred played in every game and he would look over at Dom or look over at Tags for instruction,” Hafley said. “Now, he’s the only one with any experience, and that’s forced him to become a leader and make all the calls. He won’t need to look over at Dom or Tags any more because he’s got confidence and got the defense down, which is huge.”

The top sprinter in WPIAL track so far this spring is a player known more for his football ability. Penn Hills’ Brandon Ifill, a Pitt football recruit, has run the 100-meter dash in 10.8 seconds and the 200 in 22.0.

Success in track is nothing new for Ifill. Although Western Pennsylvania indoor track doesn’t get much publicity, Ifill won the Tri-State Coaches Association indoor championships this winter in the 60-meter dash (6.97 seconds) and the 200 in 22.11, both school records. He also ran a leg on the championship 800-meter relay team.

Ifill was recruited by Pitt to play defensive back

Good stuff, nice to hear Holley is coming on. As a Penn Hills and track alum great to hear the tradition continues. Mason last year, Donald and Ifill this year. Wait till you get a load of Donald.

I don’t agree with the approach the staff has taken with playing only the one kid at the QB1 slot every play and am not at all convinced that Tino Sunseri should be a ‘lock’ as the starter.

I’d feel much better if he won the competition with a true competition and actually played better than Bostick against the same quality defense throwing to the same quality receivers.

But even more so I’m concerned about Sunseri himself – I’ve been rather amazed at the casual way everyone has written about Sunseri’s height and thrown around comparisons to Drew Breeze of all people. I’d say it may be a stretch to say that Sunseri is a solid 6’0″. I stood on the sidelines next to him last fall and was actually shocked at how short he was. He and Cignetti will have to really address this fact in their playcalling – and I think it will impact the offense more than others think.

And really – to compare Sunseri to Drew Breeze is ridiculous in the extreme… The vast majority, almost all actually, of successful QB’s in college and the Pros are tall men – mostly 6’3″ and larger, and there is a reason for that. When you have monstrously big men flying at you with extended arms it is pretty important to get the ball past them.

Drew Breeze can do this because… well, he is Drew Breeze, and smart and talented as hell.

We’ll see if this works out the way most fans think it will. It well may as Sunseri can move his legs, but I remain wary. I’m just hoping he’s more like Drew Breeze than a similarly sized QB in Cody Hawkins – the short QB from Colorado who failed miserably by throwing way more INTs than TDs during his time in college.

I will entertain the argument that both of them, as Brees, primarily works from the shotgun / spread which helps offset their handicaps, but I see no great reason for alarm at this point and am confident Coach Cignetti can scheme so that the Pitt offense will be productive with Tino at the helm.

I hope it works better for him than it did for me.

My reference to Brees was a direct quote from Sunseri himself and used to point out that Sunseri is no way 6’2″ as he’s listed. Sure his height is a concern. It puts more pressure on the o-line to not only protect but to also open up passing lanes – and for Sunseri to find them.

I too had hoped to see more of a real competition between Sunseri and Bostick. Said so here when the Spring schedule was announced. But, with a new interior line, a new quarterback and a preseason Top 25 team to open with, that might not be realistic. The coaches had to pick someone to be the frontrunner and for whatever reason(s), they chose Sunseri. Like Stull last year, it’s Sunseri’s job to lose, and like Sunseri last year, Bostick apparently hasn’t done enough to take it away. The coaches were right last year, and my hope is that they’re right this year too.

FWIW

I’m with ya. I have always been a Bostick fan. I would have liked it if he was given a better shot. But I have to go with the braintrust. Somebody said in a similiar situation something about being given the keys to the Ferrari. If Sunseri throws interceptions Bostick will get his chance, again. I give the kid a lot of credit taking a redshirt last year. A real team guy.

He sounds like Big Ben to me…big kid from Ohio who didn’t get heavily recruited ’cause he didn’t play much until his senior year, but then lit it up…oops, maybe bad comparison right now…nobody talked about his ‘people skills’.

However – the situation this season with our two QB candidates and last year with Stull returning is like comparing apples and oranges. Stull had a full and successful year under his belt going into 2009 – no one was going to usurp him from the starter’s role. That isn’t the case this season.

I would have just liked to have seen what DW himself said that the staff would do – have an open competition for the starting job, with equal opportunity for either kid to succeed… that absolutely did not happen. Sunseri has been chosen to be the QB1 going into 2010 – and while that is certainly the HC and OC’s prerogative, I feel that it does both kids, and the offense, a disservice in the long run.

wbb – I understand there have been successful short QBs at this level – and guys – Sunseri is shorter than you’d think. However, as you stated, those two kids – McDaniels and Reesling – did play in a different offense than PITT will put out on the field. PITT has recruited and built an offense predicated on drop back, play-action passing – the OL we are going to field were picked for that type of ball. We can adapt some and add some new plays to tailor things to compensate for Sunseri’s lack of height, but we will not get away from our bread and butter offense IMO. Add to the fact that Sunseri, at this point, isn’t a quick decision maker back there and….

All I’m saying is be prepared for some rough times from the QB position when full speed game time rolls around.

TampaT – There have been numerous references and comparisons of Sunseri to Drew Breeze on the message boards and Blogs among PITT fans. I wasn’t just responding to what was written above my post.

I’m not so sure that neither Sunseri or Bostick will be minding the store for not more than one year .. although I admit that is pretty premature at this point. However, I do have faith in Cignetti who I believe has the main agenda of picking the best candidate to lead this team … just as I now have faith in Coach Wise will have a pretty decent functioning OL come fall.

I also agree that Pitt will not change its offense to accomodate Sunseri. Wanny recruited kids and they came to Pitt to play in a pro set. That’s what they’ll stay with. Even if they start rolling him out more, it changes the blocking schemes for the entire line and backfield, so he’ll have to be able to operate from the pocket and find passing lanes. If he can’t, we have a very competent replacement in Bostick and a prototypical pro-style QB in Meyers waiting in the wings. A rather tough non-con schedule should sort that all out pretty quickly.