This really shouldn’t be a surprise. Rushel Shell has apparently decided that he still wants to transfer.

The destination isn’t confirmed. It’s rumored that it will be somewhere in the Pac-12. I really can’t believe Pitt would let him go to Arizona State, but there are plenty of other options.

Cynically you can make a logical case for Shell to transfer. Think about it. He is a 4-/5-star talent coming out of high school. He plays as a freshman in a partial load, but not much workload .Shows the potential that tantalizes as a number one back.

He decides to transfer. That means sitting a year. Only practicing with the scout team and working out. He then plays one season. At which point he turns pro. Much lower treadlife on his body/legs. As far as his character, he can point to helping hold the recruiting class together after Fraud Graham. Then he just says, hey, he tried but it just didn’t work with Chryst.A perfectly reasonable rationalization.

Is it bull? Perhaps. But it is also a plausible scenario to sell.

The loss of Shell hurts Pitt this year, and perhaps next year. That really shouldn’t be a debate. Losing talent like Shell is never good. Chemistry and long-term, it isn’t so clear. It’s now up to Chryst and the rest of the team to make his loss negligible.

by Lilburn Nole for Chantrant.com

No matter if you’re looking at advanced statistics like the ones found at www.footballoutsiders.com or traditional statistics like scoring defense and total defense you’ll find the Seminoles as a Top 5 defense the last two seasons. However, if there has been one complaint about that Mark Stoops-led defense it would be a lack of turnovers and less aggressive strategy.

While Florida State has been near the top in most defensive categories, you have to scroll down the page a bit to find the Seminoles when it comes to turnovers created. FSU fans will be eager to see if new Defensive Coordinator Jeremy Pruitt (formerly on the Alabama staff) will install a more aggressive style defense with more blitzes and man to man looks mixed in with the zone heavy looks that have been the norm the last couple of seasons.

Pruitt has spent the last three seasons working under Nick Saban, so it is likely he will have been influenced working under arguably the top defensive mind in the game today. While I don’t expect FSU to switch to the 3-4 defense of Saban, I do expect to see greater variance in coverages and more blitz packages. Stoops relied much more heavily on a zone scheme mixing in man to man on passing downs. Saban’s philosophy is to run zone on running downs and man to man in passing downs with zone mixed in. There is no guarantee that Pruitt will continue to incorporate the schemes that he has worked with the last 3 seasons, but as this is his first time coordinating at the college level, and knowing Jimbo Fisher’s respect for Saban and his philosophies, I feel it’s a safe assumption.

Unfortunately, it may be difficult to get a good read on a defensive strategy in the spring as practices are closed and the spring game will most likely feature more vanilla calls both offensively and defensively. However, pay close attention to the player interviews and you may be able to gain an insight into what is being worked on and discussed in practices.

I’ll spare everyone the half-hearted attempts at fake news on April 1. That sort of thing is way too tired to waste time. No Pederson fired. No Dixon changes mind and takes the USC job. No new stadium down in Panther Hollow. No return of the Pitt Script. No NCAA investigation.

The downside is there isn’t much going on at the moment for Pitt. Rushel Shell is maintaining radio silence. Isaac Bennett and Malcolm Crockett were expecting to take advantage of the opening.

“It’s something I’ve been preparing for,” Crockett said. “I knew my time would come. Now it’s here, so every rep, every second, I’m just going to go hard to the fullest and eventually try to start.”

Both saw limited action in 2012. Bennett had 29 carries for 141 yards and three touchdowns. When Shell was suspended for the season opener against Youngstown State, Bennett ran for 42 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries backing up Ray Graham.

Crockett gained 50 yards on 12 carries last season and served as Shell’s backup in the BBVA Compass Bowl, rushing five times for 18 yards.

Bennett and Crockett described themselves as similar running backs, hard runners with a little bit of speed.

“I’m trying to work on my quickness a little bit, and he’s a little quicker right now,” Bennett said. “But we’re both competitors out there on the field.”

Pitt coach Paul Chryst acknowledged the similarities, but appreciated the differences.

“I think each guy’s different,” he said. “I think the similarities are that they both run hard. I think they like the game.

“I think Malcolm, I think he can continue to learn to tempo his runs a little bit. I think he’s sometimes just one speed. They just seem to have a little bit different style. I don’t think I’ve got to figure out exactly what it is, so I don’t spend a lot of time trying.”

Crockett, however, hurt his leg in the second scrimmage. And Demetrius Davis is also hurt.

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