Pickett leads experienced Pitt roster with high hopes taken on the South Side (Pitt)

CHRIS CARTER / DKPS

Kenny Pickett speaks at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex after Pitt's first training camp practice.

Pat Narduzzi opened his seventh training camp as head coach for Pitt Friday. During his time Pitt has had impressive wins over undefeated highly ranked teams like Clemson in 2016 and Miami in 2017, as well as winning the ACC Coastal Division in 2018. 

But the Panthers haven't been able to put together a complete season that either resulted in them finishing with nine or more wins, or finishing a season ranked in the top 25 teams in the country, since they finished 10-3, ranked No. 15 back in 2009 under Dave Wannsteadt.

Narduzzi hopes that will change with a group that might be his most experienced team during his tenure. 16 players currently on the roster were starters last season and most of them face solid competition in their respective position groups that could make for interesting camp battles.

Chief among them is thanks to the return of Kenny Pickett at quarterback, who's back for his fifth season with the Panthres thanks to the NCAA's eligibility waiver as a response to the pandemic making the 2020 season a difficult season for all programs to traverse. He leads a group of players whose coaches see as a mature, experienced bunch who have a real chance to make headway for the program in 2021.

Here's a look at those groups:

QUARTERBACKS

Pickett is the obvious starter and the main pillar player to holding up Pitt's hopes. But it's not without merit, as Pickett is the most experienced starting quarterback in the ACC and averaged the third-most passing yards per game in 2020. Coming with his experience is a well of chemistry and team relationships that will prove useful during the season.

"The maturity of this group helps," Pickett said of his receivers. "I've worked with Jordan (Addison) for hours upon hours with throwing. I know exactly where he's going to be and he knows exactly where I want him. Having the chance to play with these guys, we have a lot of trust."

Behind Pickett is a mix of seven quarterbacks on the roster. Some with experience from last year like Joey Yellen, who started two games in place of Pickett as he recovered from an injury, and others like Davis Beville and Nick Patti who have already played a little, but still have work to do. Narduzzi confirmed that Patti is the current No. 2 quarterback for the Panthers with everyone else looking up at him and Pickett, but it's clear there's a competition for the Panthers to find Pickett's heir.

RUNNING BACKS

This is where the biggest competition of training camp exists. Vincent Davis was the team's leading rusher last year, but faces a tough challenge in Israel Abanikanda, better known for his nickname "Izzy," who shined bright in Pitt's Blue-Gold spring game. Davis earned his stripes for being a tough, fast running back willing to do all the extra roles that come with the position in catching the ball, protecting the quarterback, and running behind different ground game concepts.

But running backs coach Andre Powell made it clear Abanikanda has been catching up in that regard.

"Izzy has really improved in the mental aspect of the game," Powell said. "The thing that holds young guys back is the knowledge and the volume of things they need to know. He's much more comfortable in the run game because he knows what the line is doing, he knows the pass protections, all the adjustments and more. Once we saw he could handle all those mental things, we then could tap into the physical things where's a bigger guy who runs fast and we can't coach a guy to run like that."

He also added that even with the strides Abanikanda has made, it would be a mistake for anyone to doubt Davis' tenacity.

"Vince still knows a bit more," Powell said. "Being he has a full year under his belt, I expect him to be ready. Vince is a tough guy. He's not very big but he's really tough and scrappy. He has intangibles we tap into that we really like."

Davis may be tough, but he wasn't on the field involved in practice Friday, as Narduzzi confirmed when he spoke at his first media session of the season.

"Yeah, we're just waiting for his results back from the COVID testing," Narduzzi said when asked about Davis. "And we actually got them back and he'll be out there tomorrow. You'll see the guy out there tomorrow."

"But he should have been out there today," Narduzzi continued. "His flight got delayed, Spirit Airlines and all that. Guess what? I could care less about excuses, so he's late. If he got here when he needed to, we would have got the results and he would have been ready to go. But because of that he missed practice. So he had to get tested."

Obviously, not a good tone for Davis to set going into camp with a young athletic player like Abanikanda building momentum behind him, but they'll be a fun pair to watch compete against each other over the next three weeks.

OFFENSIVE LINE

After watching Jimmy Morrissey get selected in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Raiders, the group lost its official leader, but not the culture the four-year starter helped establish during his time with the team.

"I thank Jimmy for setting the culture of the room," Pickett said of the offensive line. "He was a guy who played a ton of football and he set a high standard for these guys to follow. He definitely left that room better than it was when he got there. Those guys have really followed his lead. Carter Warren has followed his lead and even new guys like Marcus Minor have fit in really well."

But it's clear from talking with Narduzzi, that this group has a tall, and vital, task of improving the Panthers run game this year.

"We've got to somehow, some way become a lot better at running the game," Narduzzi said when asked about his biggest focus points for the year. "You can all look at the tailback. It's everybody. It starts up front with the offensive line. It's got to take 11 guys -- that's why it's football; we're not in the Olympics. It's not a two-man volleyball game or the parallel bars by yourself. This is team football. It takes 11. It's not just one guy. In gymnastics it's one guy. In some of those other sports it's -- water polo, that's some team stuff there now. So I mean just take it from the Olympics to team football. You need 11 guys to do their job every play."

 Despite losing Morrissey, Pitt's offensive line returns several starters like Carter Warren, Gabe Houy, Jake Kradel and the team's new starting center had experience from last year in Owen Drexel. Drexel, a redshirt senior, was Morrissey's primary replacement and learned a lot under him, earning nicknames like "Jimmy Junior" for how similarly he worked like Morrissey.

"He's been doing a phenomenal job," Warren said of his Drexel, who shares a room on campus with both Warren and Houy. "He's lived in Jimmy's shadow for a long time now and he's got all his secrets. I'm pumped for us to show off what we got this year. I'm excited to go up against our defense all through camp."

What may play the biggest role in the Panthers' hopes for an improved offensive line is having regular practices and meeting that aren't nearly as limited by the pandemic of COVID-19. Last training camp required the linemen to sit in their own rooms with whiteboards as coach Dave Borbely tried to teach them concepts via Zoom to prepare for the season and new challenges week-to-week.

"Last year was weird to look back at," Houy said. "With COVID, having no real offseason and it was hard to work together. But this year we're much farther ahead than where we were. We're all pushing each other and we have a dominant physical mindset that has us playing together more. We took it for granted before the pandemic to have normal meetings, but now we're finding how much of a blessing it is to just be able to practice, study and play together without things holding us back."

Now, the group has experience going through a difficult time and finding chemistry together even during such a limiting time. That's something offensive coordinator Mark Whipple intends to lean on this season.

"We've got a lot of guys with the right experience," Whipple said of his offensive line. "We've changed some things around but we had guys in and out with injuries last year, but after that bye week we got a lot more consistent. There were never any excuses, but we did find some things to put together. Vince made some big plays and now we have more speed in the backfield while being stronger up front. Looking forward to seeing that."

WIDE RECEIVERS

This is Pitt's deepest group of talent and experience on the offense. Led by new receivers coach Brennan Marion, the Panthers have a returning All-ACC Freshman receiver in Jordan Addison, along with an experienced and talented group that features fifth-year senior Taysir Mack, Jared Wayne, Shockey Jacques-Louise, Jaylon Bardon, Hawaii transfer Melquise Stovall, and more.

Addison is the focus of the group, and Narduzzi sees big things for the sophomore.

"First thing we won't do is tell him, 'hey, they're looking for you this year,'" Narduzzi said about Addison. "We already mentioned that. He's just a guy that likes to get better. He's a better communicator. He's better at everything he's done. Now he's speaking up at team meetings. I didn't know if he knew how to talk last year coming out of camp, but now he's a media darling. You can see it with your eyes what he's done to get better in every aspect of his game. This year, we've got to be able to move him around, motion him and do different things so they can't find them. I don't know if there's a better guy to do that than Mark Whipple."

Addison has made sure to keep improving his game this offseason by studying how he can position himself better by understanding his opponents.

"I've been working on reading defenses," Addison said of his training this offseason. "I've been keeping my head up before the snap so I can see if it's zone or man, figure out how to attack it and position myself to make better plays before the catch so I can make better plays after the catch. That comes from just watching more film. That's something I keep doing and it keeps elevating my game."

Marion confirmed Addison's increased presence as a leader for Pitt's receiver room, noting that he's also blending well with the other talented players competing for targets this season.

"Before," Marion continued on Addison. "Jordan was just happy to be here. But now he has his own alpha male thing going on. But we have a lot of alphas in the group and they're blending together well. They're all focused on winning and doing whatever it takes to accomplish that."

But nobody can deny that Pitt's receiver group had major struggles last year with holding onto the ball. Several drops proved costly in back-to-back one-point losses early in the season to North Carolina State and Boston College.

That left Marion with an important challenge on fixing that aspect of this group's game, regardless of how talented they are or deep with experienced receivers.

"We limit emphasis on things that aren't important," Marion said when asked about the drops. "The number one thing is to catch the ball. We emphasize catching the ball every singe snap. Everything we do finishes or starts with a catch. Every single practice or sessions is charted out with how often we catch the ball. In the spring we caught the ball about 93 percent. We chart everything. From blocks, knockdowns, catches, drops, everything you can think of that can be measured, we chart. Everything that can be measured can be improved. It takes away the guesswork of what they need to improve on."

Marion noted that the way Pitt is charting receivers this season is new with how detailed it is, in an effort to quantify how each player can improve their game.

"It's a new thing we're doing this year because it's something I've done since coaching high school," Marion said. "Originally it was just to show parents who asked why their kid wasn't playing. So I would just show them the numbers, and that was that. But now it's really helped us focus on what we need to work on and helped us work by the book at receiver."

DEFENSIVE LINE

The group hit the hardest in Pitt's 2021 NFL Draft class that saw six player get selected was undoubtedly the defensive line. Rashad Weaver, Patrick Jones and Jaylen Twyman all went to NFL teams, leaving Pitt looking for new guys to step up on its front. But position coach Charlie Partridge is excited about the guys who have been working behind those stars for years and get to showcase their talents, like senior defensive end Deslin Alexandre.

"A lot of these guys stepping into more significant roles have experience," Partridge said of his linemen this year. "That's a big advantage because we've believed in rotating guys in and now these guys won't be shocked by game day. To credit the guys in the NFL, they did a great job teaching the guys under them and now we'll get to see them step up this year."

Pitt got to see both Devin Danielson and Calijah Kancey start throughout last year at defensive tackle, and both got to grow with their experience.

"I'm really excited to see what we put together this year," Partridge said. "We're excited about Devin and Kancey. I mean, we've got Keyshon Camp back for his 20th year, right? It's unbelievable. We lost the guys we did last year but we have Habakkuk (Baldonado) in a great place and Deslin plays lights out. I went back and looked at Deslin even in 2019 and he was doing amazing things. I'm excited about what they bring to the table."

Baldonado, a redshirt junior who missed several games due to injury last season, feels excited about the group around him as well.

"I wasn't able to play much last year, but that doesn't stop me," Baldonado said. "I know the bar is high, but we know what we're capable. I've played, Deslin's played, John Morgan's played, and the whole time we've been getting better and I've been learning the whole time. I think we'll fit into those big shoes that were left to us."

Alexandre, a redshirt senior and leader of the group, seemed most eager for the group to prove they were ready to reach the high standard left behind with two consensus All-Americans in Weaver and Jones.

"I'm excited for the opportunity to pass along what I've learned to the next guys just like Patrick and Rashad did for me," Alexandre said. "We've got a lot of young guys excited to make a big impact this year. We've got a lot of young, mean men. But we've got to start fast. We've got to get it started right now so we can make our mark early. Then we can work to continue that throughout the season."

Behind that group are still even younger defenders looking to make their mark, like sophomore Dayon Hayes.

"Dayon really came a long way this offseason," Partridge said of Hayes. "He just needed to mature, like all kids at that age. But you can see him shine in his workouts and in his practices. You can see how serious he's approaching things and that's going to pay off for him. If he stays on this trajectory, he's going to be getting extremely significant playing time."

LINEBACKERS

The deepest group of talent on the defense is undoubtedly its linebackers. SirVocea Dennis returned from being third team All-ACC along with fifth-year seniors Phil Campbell and Chase Pine, and experienced starters in Cam Bright, and Wendell Davis who had his 2020 season cut short because of injury.

"We're ferocious," Dennis said to describe the linebackers. "This is a group of guys who get after it. We want TFLs (tackles for loss), sacks, turnovers. We can do all of it. We're all athletic, we all have speed, cover skills and many tools that should be looking at this new generation of linebackers."

Dennis led the Panthers with 14.5 tackles for loss in 2020, and thrives off being able to stop the run. But he knows to get ready for the NFL he has to incorporate several other aspects into the strengths of his game.

"I want to improve my pass coverage skills and pass rushing abilities," Dennis said. "That's crucial to being elite in today's game. If I can get those things down, I'll be in the conversation with the best linebackers. I love stopping the run. It's something I've loved since I was young. That's smash-mouth football. It's what you want to see when you turn on the TV. But I have to adapt to have all the skills in my tool belt."

Dennis likened his will to improve to that of current Steelers linebacker Devin Bush, wanting to learn from him not just to improve his coverage, but also in his recovery from a serious injury.

"I love Devin White and Devin Bush," Dennis said. "I've met Bush a couple times and said our peace. We tried to link up a few times to work out together but it just didn't work out because we've both been in recovery and that's sometimes hard to line up. Last year I didn't have any turnovers, so I'm trying to be versatile in the game. Not just TFLs, but also turnovers."

Davis earned his starting spot as the Mike linebacker last training camp, but that's where Dennis also found a home in his absence. It could prove a serous training camp battle between them, Bright, Campbell and Pine for who gets the most playing time.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

After Jason Pinnock and Damar Hamlin got drafted, with Paris Ford also signing with the Rams as an undrafted free agent, many holes opened up in the secondary for secondary coach Archie Collins' group to fill in 2021.

But helping with that is the return of redshirt senior cornerback DaMarri Mathis, who missed last season due to a training injury. He'll work ahead of a group of cornerbacks who played last year like Marquis Williams and A.J. Woods, each who saw plenty of time working next to Pinnock.

It's a loaded group," Narduzzi said of his secondary. "There's a lot of good young guys. But you look at DaMarri and Marquis and A.J. Woods, who's playing well. Got a lot of experience a year ago. Rashad Battle. Rashad Battle, kind of moved from safety to corner, so we'll give him a little bit of both. M.J. Devonshire is starting off at corner. He was at safety all spring. So we're teaching him both as well, trying to figure out what's the best fit is. I think both can play safety and both can play corner."

Collins is eager to find out who emerges as the top players in his cornerback room.

"Those guys are competing day in and day out," Collins said of his defensive backs. "Competition breeds success. One thing about these guys is that they're very close. They're working together on film work, studying, knowing what offenses are doing, and you can tell they love each other and are helping each other."

But safeties prove just as important as cornerbacks in Pitt's defense that has their defensive backs play aggressively and attack the ball. Replacing an experienced pair like Ford and Hamlin won't be easy, but is something Collins sees as an achievable task in 2021.

"The good thing about our safeties is most of these guys are into their third year," Collins said of his defensive backs. "They've been hearing the same things for years and watched starters that got to the NFL. So now they've had a lot of time playing special times, watching games, replacing guys and they're a confident bunch now. They're not like nervous first year players. These guys aren't nervous, they're hungry. I don't think there will be a drop off at safety."

Brandon Hill took over at safety for Ford in 2020, returning an interception for a touchdown that helped Pitt seal a win over Florida State in November. He's joined by Erick Hallett II, who proved a versatile player who could switch from cornerback to safety on demand.

Hill, a redshirt sophomore, finds inspiration in seeing so many former teammates already in the NFL.

"It's the biggest encouragement seeing those guys succeed," Hill said of Pitt's defensive backs going to the NFL. "Actually, Jason was my host when I came to visit. I was the only safety in my class so when I started I was just with a bunch of older guys. But that helped me pick up their tendencies and add it to my game. Now they've seen me grow and I'm showing what I can do."

Hill sees the biggest challenge of replacing those players not being about just making plays on the field, but being the inspiration for the rest of the team, bringing energy into big games.

"When the defensive backs have a lot of energy, it carries over and brings everyone with us," Hill said. "We want to be the energy and bring the swagger. We had that in our leadership last year and we want to make sure there's no drop in that this year."

Hill's main focus this offseason has been studying his game from last year to find more ways to create moments like his touchdown against Florida State. Narduzzi mentioned a major emphasis for the defense was to create even more turnovers than last year. That will prove a serious challenge as the Panthers led the ACC with 14 interceptions, but Hill seems excited to meet the high bar.

"You only get about five opportunities to change a game," Hill said. "Making the best out of every opportunity this time around is what I've focused on the most. I'm an aggressive safety and I picked Pitt because we let our safeties be aggressive. This is a place I can thrive, be hard-nosed and get after the ball. I'll give you about five or six turnovers, and it will be a different dunk every time."

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