Two days ago we talked about ex-WR Elijah Zeise being moved to the Linebacker position. Here is an article and some background on the move:

He looks just like his old man.  I like this switch and it shows that for as much as the fans want new players to come into the program and get playing time right away Narduzzi doesn’t feel that way.  Any coach will play guys like Boyd or Whitehead as true freshman but the reality is that most players usually have to wait their turn until their Sophomore or j* year to become starters.

We fans are high on rsFR Brightwell and McKee and rookie FR Kaezon Pugh, and those kids look to have nice talents, but they’ll be sitting a lot more than playing this season. That said, after this year when we lose who may well be the starting LB lineup of SRs Galambos, Caprara and Bradley those kids, Brightwell and McKee will be rsSOs with two years college experience under their belts and will fleet up to starting some games.

Jerry DiPaola of the Trib has this piece on the subject.

Beset by injuries at the position and in the name of trying to “get the best 11 on the field,” coach Pat Narduzzi on Tuesday texted Zeise, requesting a meeting to talk about a position switch. “Honestly, I thought I might be in trouble for something,” Zeise said.

On the contrary. Narduzzi sees an opportunity for Zeise to replace Nicholas Grigsby at the star (outside) linebacker spot that also requires the skills of a safety. Zeise, who will be a sophomore in the fall, played wide receiver, safety and cornerback at North Allegheny and helped the Tigers win the PIAA Class AAAA championship in 2012.

“He’s a good athlete, and I think we need him on defense,” Narduzzi said. “He’s a guy who can come in and play some very quality reps for us. He has a chance to start.”

Moving Zeise (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) from wide receiver to linebacker makes statements about Pitt’s situation at both positions.

Well, what the hell happened with WRs Zach Challingsworth who had 12 catches for 171 yard and a TD and Chris (Fade) Wuestner? Not gone but forgotten it appears.

Narduzzi said he is happy “right now” with his wide receivers, including senior Dontez Ford, who averaged 19.4 yards per catch last season. Incoming freshmen Maurice Ffrench, Ruben Flowers and Clairton’s Aaron Mathews may be able to help this season, and holdovers Jester Weah, Quadree Henderson and Tre Tipton remain options. Plus, offensive coordinator Matt Canada won’t hesitate to get the ball in the hands of safety Jordan Whitehead at strategic moments.

Here is Narduzzi waxing poetic about Zeise the Younger and other issues:

(Here is the transcript of that interview).

So then, with that as a lead-in and with the advent of a post-Tyler Boyd era coming to Pitt in five months let’s take a look at what 2016 might have in store as far as our passing game and the receiving corps. We all hope to see the ball spread out all over the field and to multiple receivers so as to use each potential receiver’s strengths as called on.

The above says it all about the state of the WR’s this spring and going into fall camp. But WRs aren’t the only offensive players who get the chance at catching passes.

Our RBs had some plays as receivers last season. Quadree Ollison had 14 catches for 77 yards (5.5 ypc) the rest of the RBs didn’t do much better as the sum of all RBs using their hands to get the ball was this: 36 catches for 164 yards and no TDs for 5.0 ypc across the board.

Huh – we need someone else, don’t ya know?

Enter stage right the Tight Ends… in respective order of seniority; SR Jaymar Parrish, rsSR Scott Orndoff, rsJR Zach Poker, rsJR Devon Edwards, JR Nate Bossory and the fan’s favorite rsFR DeAndre Schifino.

Any wonder why Narduzzi and Canada felt it was imperative for Pitt to get another TE on the roster for the future? Transfer SO Chris Clark was a good one to get also and will help immediately once he regains his eligibility for 2017.  The staff begged the NCAA to allow Clark to play this 2016 season but the NCAA said – “Here’s the deal. You can have Clark this year or we can give James Conner another full year for 2017 year.” … and Narduzzi shut up.

Interesting info ahead!

Out of those six TEs eligible for this season they are bring a total of 14 catches for 247 yards which is an amazing 17.6 ypc and another impressive 5 TDs from ’15.  What was going on there?  We have never seen a TE grab passes at almost 19 yards a pop.

Well… Scott Orndoff was going on as he had all but one of those catches and all of the TDs.  Parrish had the other catch.  Orndoff was pretty much a beast after he caught the ball as he has been in the past but last season saw him imitating a WR on a regular basis – his personal 18.8 ypc average is out of this world for a TE on a Pitt team.

Wow, let’s do that all again this year.  Peterman to Orndoff was a steady thing and needed.  Take a look at Peterman’s play-action fake on the third play of the highlight reel – he sold it beautifully with the ball behind his right thigh… what past Pitt QBs does that remind you of?  (Answer correctly and you get one vote in the selection of Pitt’s next BB coach).

Gee, this is a good place to segue into that part of the conversation – historical Pitt TEs and their production.

Four years ago, during Paul Chryst’s first spring practices, I wrote an article on here titled “Oh to be a Chryst Tight End” and in it I listed the TE’s Chryst had at Wisconsin (all of whom ended up in the NFL albeit some briefly).

Remember how excited we were when we were jack sure he’d incorporate them into Pitt’s passing game like he did a UW?

It didn’t happen.

But hey, we fans don’t give up that easily. We again are hoping that 2016’s version of the TEs will be more involved in the passing game then they have been the last three years when our offense saw Boyd getting the lion’s share of passing targets.

Here is how Pitt has used the TEs over the last 10 years… please note that I totaled all the TEs who had any receptions in the “TE Catches” category – and I then flagged Dorin Dickerson because he was really used as a H-Back,  was put at split out, wide out and then sometimes pulled closer to the Center at the TE spot prior to the snap.

As you can see DW used his TEs much more than the other HCs did over their time at Pitt… again factoring in Dickerson.  Take Dickerson’s receptions away because he really wasn’t a TE and from 2008 to 2009 our TEs catches drop like a rock.

For instance if we take away DD’s 49 catches in 2009 then our remaining TEs, Byham and Cruz,  accounted for only 11 catches or 5% of the QB’s completions.  Much like 2015 when Orndoff tipped the catches numbers his way Dickerson did the same when he played as a H-Back.

So what do we think we’ll see with our new OC Matt Canada and his use of receivers and especially the TEs?  Will he look at Peterman’s 2015 season and keep the passes short thus, and hopefully, use our TEs more or will he try to go with more intermediate and deep routes, airing  the ball out more and keep the TEs in for pass protection duties?

I’d like to see a mixture of both.  We have WR Dontez Ford and as I have stated on here I think he’ll have an even better and more busy year as the WR1 of the offense this season and we have speed with Tre Tipton and Jester Weah.