A 4-star and one of the top recruits in Pennsylvania made his decision today. Kyoshen Jarrett did the hat thing. He had VT, Michigan, Pitt and Penn St. It was Pitt.

Jarrett is also the fifth Rivals250 prospect to commit to Pitt, along with Chestnut, Poteat, Paramus (NJ) Paramus Catholic defensive tackle Marquise Wright and Atco (NJ) Winslow Township receiver Bill Belton. This marks just the second time in the Wannstedt Era that Pitt has had five Rivals250 members. In the class of 2008, Pitt finished with five recruits in the Rivals250.

Rivals.com and Scout.com both have him as a 4-star recruit. They both rank him closely as the 13th and 16th, respectively, best cornerback prospect in the country. ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. is not quite so high on Jarrett. Listing him as 32nd best and essentially grading him out as a 3-star (Insider subs). Still they say nice things about his talent.

Jarrett brings good size, closing speed and athleticism to the corner position. He has above average height and a well-built frame. Utilizes his size to his advantage out on the perimeter jamming and rerouting receivers aggressively off the line. Closes fast and strong. Shows good plant and drive skill. Effective blitzer off the boundary and can set the edge on run support. Does a good job fighting through the stalk block. Is a strong tackler and reliable in the openfield.

What the question ultimately seems to come down to in the evaluation is his overall speed.

This is probably a bigger blow to Michigan and ol’ DickRod than for Penn St. or VT. What with Turner leaving and now Troy Woolfolk out for the year. It hasn’t been a good time to be a CB associated with the Wolverines.

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That doesn’t mean anyone is really feeling good about things.

It’s been a few days since there was an angst-y post on the offensive line.  Clearly I am slacking.

Alex Karabin has locked down the starting center position.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt proclaimed Alex Karabin “the starting center right now” Monday and called the fifth-year senior walk-on from Greensburg Central Catholic “a top candidate” to earn a scholarship.

Offensive line coach Tony Wise said the 6-foot-1, 290-pound Karabin, who turns 24 in October, makes up for his height and range shortcomings by using his football sense, lower-body strength and effort.

“The guy has overcome a lot. He’s waited his turn, and he’s taken advantage of it,” Wannstedt said. “Tony Wise, he doesn’t say things to say it. When he makes a comment about a player, it’s usually a comment that’s been thought out and well-documented.”

Well, I hope the scholarship gets free. Karabin has definitely earned it.

He will also probably be subject to a lot of abuse by fans if he can’t handle the position. Still, it’s hard to blame Karabin for being put in this position. That goes to big whiffs and errors by Coach Wannstedt in recruiting. It has been beaten into the ground, but there is no excuse that the only players available for center are a walk-on senior and a redshirt freshman converted from the D-line. That’s just absurd. There were no injuries to the spot. There were no academic casualties. Just poor recruiting on the O-line. (more…)