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.

As for Jack Lippert, well it is a credit to how well he is handling the move to the O-line (or a hell of a damning indictment of the performance of others) that this is happening.

Jack Lippert took some snaps with the first-team unit at right guard yesterday, as first-stringer Greg Gaskins, second-stringer Ryan Turnley and Lippert continue to audition for the most wide-open starting spot on the team.

Hooray for keeping to the philosophy of the best 5 on the O-line. But, ugh on the fact that neither Gaskins or Turnley have even come close to playing well enough that Lippert could be considered a better option to start at the spot.

No wonder Wannstedt acknowledged that Lucas Nix is expected to do a lot.

“Lucas Nix, out of that whole class that came in, he’s one of the most intelligent players. He’s a sharp guy, he can do more and we expect more of him this year. He’s an established starter. He can help with communication, and whoever that right guard is, whether it’s Greg Gaskins, Ryan Turnley or Jack Lippert, they’ll benefit from it. That’s where we’re at right now. We’re going to ask Lucas (Nix) to do a little more than what he’s done in years past.”

“A little more?”

Now Nix is probably the biggest “starred” recruit Coach Wannstedt has gotten since coming back to Pitt. So, expecting the junior and second year starter to do more than just hold his own at the right tackle spot is reasonable. But it isn’t just “a little more.”  Nix, of course, is saying the right things.

“Coming into camp, I knew there weren’t going to be the Maleckis and other guys to keep me in line, so I realized I had to make changes in my whole approach,” Nix said. “I had to help mold the young guys.

“Coach Wise always talks about not just making yourself better, but can you make the guy next to you play better? I’m trying to help whoever is in there give the best look.”

Good luck.