The biggest storyline at Pitt now isn’t spring camp nor the BB loss – it is that the NCAA has granted James Conner another season of play when they approved his “Medical Redshirt” exemption for the 2015 season. What this means folks is not only do we have Conner for this season but also for the 2017 season.
No one has any idea how Conner will do this year with 1) his MCI injury which was sort of lost in the news of Conner’s cancer battle. Remember that ankle cost him the full year even before his diagnosis of Hodgkin’s-Lymphoma.
It may well have been that even without his other illness Conner may not have bounced back 100% from that MCI. Now however, I think it is pretty safe to assume that his 2017 season would see him as the post-medical issues James Conner who tore up the field in 2014 for 1769 yards at a 5.9 ypc clip with 26 (!!) TDs.
If he does well this season, and let’s hope so for both his and our program’s sake, he may well declare before the ’17 season – but who knows. Conner had already said he’d forgo the NFL draft, which he was eligible for just like Boyd, and return for 2016 even before he got hurt.
There are grand days ahead my friends and no wonder RB Chris James took off after the season ended. These NCAA decisions, at least this one, isn’t all that hard to figure out in advance… especially with the emotional and publicity potential involved with the NCAA on this call.
No spring practice on Friday so here are some news and other info related to the Pitt FB program. Practice returns today on the Southside and we’ll have more on Sunday evening for your Monday workday morning.
Even though I am the Great and Wonderful Blogster I am somewhat two-blocked with other stuff this weekend so what I’ll do is just steal everyone else’s stuff for you guys to read (so different than any other of my articles, right?)
Let’s begin: Rivals Chris Peak has another great podcast recorded from Thursday evening. Erie Express mentioned this yesterday and here it is:
Obviously James Conner gets much deserved kudos for his attitude toward both his dealing with cancer and the body and mind draining treatments for it and Chris covers that. But the more timely issues regarding the current state of the team during this spring are addressed also.
Peak’s take on the defensive tackles is on point – IMO the key is getting Tyrique Jarrett healthy for September… but the fact that both SR Shakir Soto and rsSO Shane Roy, converted DEs both, are forced into key roles in positions they haven’t played at Pitt. Actually, Roy hasn’t played in any games at all when he didn’t see any action as a rsFR last season.
We talked about the LBs but a real important note is that when Jamal Davis bagged out of Pitt he left even bigger question marks in the LB corps.
Take a good listen at the 21:15 mark of the podcast when he interviews rsSO Brian O’Neill about his 245 to 300 pound weight gain… and, BTW, O’Neill’s vertical jump actually increased by 2”.
What does gaining that weight over the last 12 months mean now? O’Neill hits it on the head when he states that he has the opportunity to concentrate on OL and his responsibilities much more no because he isn’t constantly worried about gaining weight as the staff had ordered him to do at this time last season.
This young man wasn’t highly rated and truth be told had very few offers out of HS and only one from another D1 school – Tulane. Fellow fans – this kid may just be the latest in a long line of star OL Pitt has produced over the years… he’s that good especially given that he never played the position before last March.
Here is a new Pitt Sports website title “Pitt Nation Sports” owned and operated by Chris Logue…
Chris Logue is an enthusiastic individual who has two major loves in his life, first and foremost being his girlfriend, Kayla, and second Pitt Panthers football.
He started by doing his own blog on sportsblog.com, after wanting more, and a bigger spotlight, Chris joined the City of Champions blog focusing on the Panthers. When it came down to it and taking time to sort priorities, he realized that doing his own website and putting his own touch on ideas, columns, and overall direction was the path he wanted to pursue.
In his last article posted he took a personal look at what he felt the Pitt offense would look like and produce during the upcoming season. I don’t necessarily agree with his take but it is interesting reading.
Apparently he think the offense will be better but I’m not sure why – he does love him some SO WR Quadree2 Henderson though:
It’s been no mystery that I am a huge proponent of Henderson’s talents. As a freshman, he was given early work in week one against Youngstown State, where we saw him trip himself with his own two feet. Still, something deep down said he just needed more opportunities to make his impact felt to a significant degree. As the playing time continued, so did his growth. The potential reached the boiling point in the Military Bowl when he returned the opening kickoff for a very long touchdown.
Though the game didn’t pan out even close to how Pitt fans projected, Quadree showed fearlessness throughout the game and played with a particular moxie.
Huh – I’m the one writing a murder mystery yet Chris has all the crime noir phrases down already; “impact felt”, “boiling point”, ‘fearlessness” and the best of all “particular moxie”. Damn – if Quadree2 Henderson solves an on-campus murder this season I’m retiring pen and paper.
As to actual offensive projections for Pitt in ’16 he states this…
Why do I seem so confident (this) is such a young group of pass-catchers? Nathan Peterman. (edit note: you can also look at the receiver’s look at their birth dates)
Simply put, his voice can be more receptive up-and-down the depth chart. Don’t get it? Let’s try again. Nathan Peterman can now progress through his reads beyond receiver A.
Please understand one thing; I’m not calling Tyler Boyd a cancer to the offense. The offense certainly would not have been as fluid as it was without his services.
What I am getting at is being able to spread the ball between A and D can actually have a more profound impact on a game and season rather than a really good A and a surprising B.
Ford, Henderson, Tipton, Mathews, Flowers, Elijah Zeise and Zach Challingsworth can be those players for Peterman. Which I believe is the sort of passing offense that best suits a quarterback such as Peterman.
I agree with every word of that and have written that on here many times because I also believe our passing game is going to be more effective with Boyd gone. Pitt fans act like Boyd was the greatest thing since sliced bread for Pitt. He certainly was extremely talented and his numbers were impressive but sometimes things get unbalanced on offense and it hurts in other ways.
Here are his career numbers and specifically where he ranked nationally in the 2015 season.
| Year | GP | Rec | RPG | Yards | YPR | TDs | YPG |
| 2013 | 13 | 85 | 6.54 | 1,174 | 13.81 | 7 | 90.31 |
| 2014 | 13 | 78 | 6.00 | 1,261 | 16.17 | 8 | 97.00 |
| 2015 | 12 | 91 (7th) | 7.6 (7th) | 926 (48th) | 10.2 | 6 (85th) | 77.2 (39th) |
| Total | 38 | 254 | 6.7 | 3391 | 13.3 | 21 | 98.2 |
But if you look closely at Boyd’s actual production last season it really isn’t all that impressive, and I think his presence as the primary receiver on almost every play had some detrimental effect in the long run.
Logue makes the case well above and I’ll agree with him, and disagree with a lot of Pitt fans, when they say we have less talent in the WR corps now than last season… we had the talent but it was hidden in Boyd’s long shadow.
So the blog author got this right IMO but then throws us a curveball in the last paragraph when he states he feels
What can’t go unnoticed is that at some of the most important positions on the offensive side of the ball, ie, center, quarterback, and running back, there shouldn’t be very many questions, instead certainties. That’s time that’s cherishable, but was scrambled heading into the Youngstown State game last September.
It’s extremely difficult to pin an early prediction for the offense this season as it sets to face greater defensive competition, but giving it a whirl couldn’t hurt.
Completely off-record (if that’s even possible by releasing it?), I estimate the offense will average close to 380 yards per game (only 2.5 yards more than 2015), 210 yards per game on the ground (23.1 yards per game more than 2015), 170 yards per game through the air, which would mark Nate Peterman at 77 yards less than 2015 at 2,210.
Hey, one thing about Chris Logue is that he really just throws those words out at you. This cracks me up: “Simply put, his voice can be more receptive up-and-down the depth chart. Don’t get it? Let’s try again…”
It takes a minute to digest that phrasing but he makes it work somehow.
So, after waxing poetic about how our QB and receiving corps will thrive, Logue think we’ll actually drop in passing production. I’ll beg differ will predict we’ll average over 200 yards per game with more passing TDs at opportune times.
Here are some other pieces by Chris on his fledging blog – enjoy them… because we fans can’t get enough Pitt football talk in any form, can we?
Hey – Pitt Nation is looking for writers. Some of you cans can really wordsmith and if you have any time and an inclination to get your ideas out in public to be commented and ridiculed… then this job may be for you!! Here are the two principals there now. It really is a lot of fun.
Logue also has a piece (quoted on here a few days ago) about what drove our newly-eligible DE Dwayne Hendrix to choose Pitt to play the rest of his college ball after leaving Tennessee.
Final note: What an inglorious ending to a mediocre season for the Pitt basketball team. I can’t really fathom the hurt Pitt BB fans feel but can say that we have all experienced that exact same feeling when watching Pitt’s football seasons unfold in the past. Better luck next year I guess.
I get caught up with the typing and tend to forget to proofread before I hit ‘publish’.
He was granted the redshirt because of the 2015 season and that allows him to play for the 2017 season.
It was his MCI – and something to remember is that in that 1st quarter of that 1st game last year he had 8 carries for 77 yards for a 9.6 ypc and 2TDs… what a start and let’s hope to see that against Villanova (or better yet the game after with PSU)!
Receivers will still have to make plays and it is wishful thinking to say that somehow his being gone will help things.
What will help things is that the schizoid offense of Chaney is gone, and that Peterman has a year of experience, and Ollison is the clear number 1 back unless Conner is healthy.
The offensive line is mature and deep.
These are all more important than replacing Boyd’s productivity.
Hopefully a more reliable defense with a pass rush will help take the pressure off the offense to win games.
I liked all the content until the last paragraph – and the wound was re-opened.
I’m excited about the direction of Pitt FB and appreciate that you shared yet another source for Pitt FB dialogue.
Barnes is basically refusing to do anything – those of you looking for new assistants will be waiting a long time – with basketball.
There’s got to be improvement on the football team and at least seven wins. Seven wins would be a step back based on 2015 but a step forward considering the brutal schedule.
Our AD is losing control of the basketball messaging. He can’t afford to become Steve Pederson with Pitt football.
However, if Voytik were still calling the signals… it would be a disaster.
Not too many Guys can be counted on to be OPEN virtually every play.
His success in the NFL will be a reminder to all of his Doubters just how EXCEPTIONAL Boyd really was.
Pitt fans need something positive to look forward to. On to football! At least with football we have an ascending program. I’m excited about the prospect of getting James Conner back and having an improved defense. Matt Canada appears to emphasize running the more, which was my biggest disappointment with Chaney. In the North Carolina and Miami games I felt he cost us the opportunity to win by getting away from running the ball. I think that was the reason for friction in his previous job at Arkansas. I think our new offensive coordinator is much better fit for the talent on hand. The Panthers need to focus on what they do best, running the ball. My biggest concern is replacing Tyler Boyd.
I thought Boyd was a sterling talent but I have always felt that getting the best out of every skill player on offense is better than having one star.
I call it the Pitt RB Syndrome. That is where we have a superstar RB and rely almost solely on him for offense.
We have done that for the last 11 years and for most of those seasons it didn’t work all that well.
I want to see us look at offense as a 50/50 plan and use ALL our talents.
When you have HCs and especially OCs who don’t know if they will be there the next season then you see them take the easy way out…which is relying on one player.
Sometimes you have to purposely move away from a great talent to maximize production.
I do think the year before we relied on Conner too much. But would never say we were better off without him.
Hopefully Canada is much more willing to trust his running game and specifically Ollison, if Conner does not recover quickly.
I also think that Chaney did not use his tight ends nearly enough.
Just checking.
That said, our QB should have more time this year because of a better offensive line. The additional time should allow him to look at more receivers and not lock onto the reliable one that could get consistent separation. You have to consider the totality of circumstances, not just one player. This will never be answerable. If we have more passing yards, people will argue the point about being better at the wr position. Could we look at the totality and suggest that the OL was better, which gave the qb more time?
Could it be that the team was behind in their games and had to pass more, thus giving more opportunities to gain pass yards?
Cmon now…totality beat focused, in my opinion.
Just because we have lost a superstar, and because he got the vast majority of the passes thrown to him last season, that doesn’t mean the people we had behind Boyd don’t have great talents of their own. We don’t know yet – we have Tre Tipton and we have Ford who we know is a good player. We have Quadree Henderson, who we hadn’t seen at all yet, and the bottom line is we have no idea what’s going on in that position’s depth until we actually see them on the field of play.
I personally think we’ll be pleasantly surprised during fall camp.
Just remember that Aaron Donald chose to stay for his senior year even after he could’ve been a first or second round draft choice if he had declared for the draft when at first he could.
That being the case..as soon as Conner is ready to play in the NFL he should go…he has sat out a year so playing this year won’t hurt him too much, but he’s crazy if he stays a another year if he could get drafted.
Even the thought of losing the Penn State in September is too much to bear.
I don’t think our points are that dissimilar. My point was that we will never really know because of all the variables, including schedule and defenders. We saw our qb’s for two seasons lock on him because of his skills. New year presents new skills. I hope we open it up!
Just read that Hinish is announcing on Monday. Any good scoop on destination?
on kick return Henderson clearly proved he was a better option than Boyd
and Henderson appeared to be an ideal candidate for WR runs / sweeps – and probably would have delivered better results than Boyd due to his superior open field ability
We are hearing similar things from our coaches this year and the players have a full year in this system.
Wait a minute, didn’t Navy run all over our D in the bowl game?
…Though the way the NBA pays it’s draft picks (it’s predetermined where they are picked) If a player is going to get drafted…it makes no sense to stay and play another year in college financially..there is zero gain and chance of injury if he stays in college. (See Steve Adams)…
..Dorsett stayed because the rules said he had to at that time…and he probably regretting that he did play those extra years now since he has advanced stages of dementia now.
Why is there no ACC Gymnastics?
I have watched the B1G and SEC girls.
I dunno – ask Dion Lewis who kicked ass with 1800 yards and 17 TDs the following year… and BTW we then went 10-3 with Bill Stull at QB.
Not enough?
Damn it to Hell!! Larry Fitz is gone early – what will we do…? I’m cancelling my season tickets!
I know what guys – let’s call Greg Lee and he’ll give us more yards, yards per catch and TDs than Tyler Boyd ever did in one season for Pitt when Lee came through for 1297 yards, a 19.1 ypc and 10 TDs. This is after Lee only had 10 receptions for 211 yards the year before.
Hell – Dontez Ford had a great season, (26 catches for 505 yards for 19.4 ypc!) in Boyd’s shadow yet some Pitt fans are wondering if he’ll even be the starter in 2016 – which he will and I’ll predict right now (and have in the past) that he’ll be our star player on offense this coming season.
This goes on and on and on not just for Pitt but for every team. Stars are great to have but sometimes the whole team isn’t as good as they could be when that star becomes a crutch for the QB and for the OC – which is what Voytik, Peterman and Chaney used Boyd as.
Get ready to eat a plate of crow
I think you mean his knee…MCL.
And medical redshirt eligibility…for ‘2016?
I think you mean 2017.
Let’s check your LFT’s (liver function studies) as I don’t think you are burning off the booze as quickly as you should.