A couple focus stories in the dailies today.
Manasseh Garner is really happy in Pitt’s offense.
Thoughtful and soft-spoken, tight end Manasseh Garner was not trying to brag Tuesday when he was asked to describe his duties in the Pitt offense.
“Linebackers, cornerbacks, safeties, I feel like, personally, you line me up against anybody and I’m going to win,” he said.
Strong words from Garner, a Brashear graduate who scored a touchdown against Florida State, his first game at Pitt since transferring from Wisconsin.
Garner, a junior, has much to prove in his remaining time, but at 6-foot-2, 230-pounds he combines the requisite size and speed that attracts attention from opposing defenses and has the potential to confuse them.
Especially when you consider how Pitt offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph uses him — splitting him out like a wide receiver and lining him up tight against the linemen to block. Garner said he’s a receiver 40 percent of the time
“That’s something that is really in his wheelhouse,” Rudolph said of lining up wide, “and he adapts to it easily.”
Versatile. That’s probably the best way to describe Garner. What’s great is his versatility is being used. It isn’t just trying to fit him into one mold. It is taking advantage of what he can do when the situation calls for it.
