With two solid weeks until the staff and team break out of camp and start their game week preparation for YSU it’s safe to say that we are seeing some certain things shaping up.

Of course a starting lineup hasn’t been announced yet but from the various local media reports and the Pitt Media Dept’s Pitt LiveWire website we are getting some idea of a few position battles that are getting a bit hotter as the camp progresses.

Jerry DiPaola of the Trib Review has a nice Pitt Locker Room blog article on this subject a couple of days ago and we referenced it a bit in the last article.  Here are some significant battles we should keep our eyes on.  Remember – this is how things look now on defense but with a new staff and a defensive minded HC things could change pretty drastically:

Defensive End: Right now it would be Shakir Soto and Ejuan Price as the starters; transfer Allen Edwards and Rori Blair in the two deep, along with newly minted DE James Folston rotating in. Narduzzi was waxing eloquently the other day about former LB Folston and the speed he’s now bringing to the DE position.  Folston is a rsFR who has a 4.6 40 time which is pretty good for a LB/DE but I think his jump off the snap quickness is his strength and what the defensive staff likes at that end position.

As much as I’d like to think Price will stay healthy and be a big contributor I just can’t. So for me the progress of Blair is paramount.  He gained some weight after last season and is listed going into camp as 6’4″ & 240 lbs but I wonder.  he still appears thin but who knows what kind of heart and desire he has.  Sometimes the intangibles mean a lot more than height, weight or 40 time.  Let’s hope he gets back from suspensions and works his way back into a DE starter.

Defensive Line: It looks like K. K. Mosley-Smith will be a fixture in the middle. The matching DL to Mosley-Smith has been incumbent Darryl Render. However, that is one spot where there has been some movement up and down between Render and Tyrique Jarrett. One line of thinking is to get pure bulk in there and put Jarrett in for a combined 640+ lbs of flesh up front.

I can see that as it would make the LBs able to pursue the ball more freely if those two linemen can occupy two or three OL at a time.  But we have been spoiled over the last few years watching Aaron Donald jet past the OL and make hits on the ball carriers for tackles for loss and the QBs for sacks.  I want some speed in the trenches and a kid who may be able to do that, depending on game circumstances, is Jeremiah Taleni.

He’s a bit lighter than the other guys at 6’ 2” / 295 lbs but watching him in the camps last year I was impressed by his quickness off the ball. I don’t see Taleni starting but as a rsSO he has a future on our DL and this year would be a good time to get him more experience under his belt.

Linebackers:   The assumption is that the three lbs will be Grigsby, Galambos and Bradley across the board.  I wonder if that’s what we’ll see though.  If there is any incumbent starter in the front seven who should be looking over his shoulder it may be Galambos.  The chatter has been about how well rsSO Quentin Wirginis’ camp has gone so far as both he and rsJR Mike Caprara are doing very well and legitimately pushing for starting spots.

Those two may not get those starting jobs; Wirginis at MLB and Caprara shooting for Bradley’s spot at OLB.  If I had to pick one kid to grab the brass ring at LB I’d pick Caprara because Narduzzi seems to be talking about him all the time.

Defensive Backs:  In the defensive backfield we have seven of 2014’s eight two-deep players returning losing only Ray Vinopal at Free Safety.  Returning starter Reggie Mitchell will most probably retain his now “Boundary”

At this point it looks like we’ll see Reggie Mitchell return with either Ryan Lewis behind him or an unknown player… although if we see a true FR start at safety whoever he replaces would take that back-up Free Safety spot.

Currently it looks like Patrick Amara or Jevonte’ Pitts picking up the open Strong Safety position. However as mentioned above, this year there is a different twist to the Safety issue with the arrival of Jordan Whitehead coming in as a highly rated recruit.

The D staff has put him at the Strong Safety position thus far in camp and if the reports are true about his abilities and play at this level so far we’ll see him get major playing time this season.  The real question with Whitehead is whether he’ll begin the season as a starter or get acclimated on the two-deep and play in certain situations.  I look at his size and wonder why he isn’t at Free Safety but I suppose his run support must be pretty good to start out on the TE’s side of the field.

The starters at Cornerback at the end of the ’14 season were Lafayette Pitts, Avonte’ Maddox with Ryan Lewis backing them up.  If needed Reggie Mitchell would have slid over from his starting Safety position to help the depth at CB.

That’s how I see some things on the defensive side of the ball coming together in this early part of camp. Again, I think if we see any surprise changes it will be on defense and I’d point to the LBs as to where they might take place.

What are some questions you want answered or suggestions you would make had you the HC’s ear?

Here is the after-scrimmage report from Pitt Livewire on the first bit of real competition the team has had.  FYI – here you can see #44 Steinbeck in action and the two deep passes by Voytik and Peterman. Enjoy!

… and here is the Media & Teleprompter video mentioned in the comments earlier.

PITTSBURGH, PA – AUGUST 14: The Pitt football team practices at the UPMC Sports Complex on August 14, 2015 in Pittsburgh, PA.