When Kedon Slovis announced his commitment to Pitt back in December, there was plenty of excitement around the program that a talented heir to Kenny Pickett's success had been found. Slovis was a former three-star recruit who played for USC as the Trojans' starting quarterback between 2019-2021.
Slovis burst onto the scene for the Trojans as a freshman who threw 30 touchdown passes, a feat that's only been accomplished by four Pitt quarterbacks in the history of the program. But in the following years, Slovis' production regressed as he only threw 17 touchdowns in 2020 and 11 touchdowns in 2021. His physical talents didn't diminish, but PAC-12 opponents did start to figure out how to better defend against his strengths and expose his weaknesses.
That's where the recent hire of Frank Cignetti Jr. at offensive coordinator will play a major role in helping Slovis, but the senior quarterback with two years of eligibility left also brings plenty of skills for Cignetti to work with next season.
That primary skill that Slovis has shown is his rocket of an arm attached to his shoulder. When it comes to arm strength, throwing mechanics and footwork, Slovis looks to have the fundamentals down on how to deliver the football accurately even deep down the field. That ability gave his receivers chances all around the field even when defensive backs were close in coverage. Watch this ball Slovis put on a rope between the cornerback, safety and sideline for a 36-yard strike:
Notice how the ball was thrown without having to put too much air under it. When Slovis sees his man, even with a tight passing window, he can throw the ball with enough velocity to limit the amount of time defensive backs have to act. Whether it's a short, intermediate, or deep pass, Slovis has shown the ability to throw the zip the ball with accuracy.
Quarterbacks don't just need throwing power and great touch, but also an understanding of the different trajectories a pass must take to fit into different passing windows based on the various coverages he faced. Slovis has demonstrated that skill in hitting all the different spots required on his receivers' route trees over the past three years with the Trojans. Watch this back-shoulder fade Slovis threw for a touchdown. You can see the ball released while his receiver was still developing the route inside the five-yard line. The ball is perfectly placed for him to high point it, and brings it down:
Slovis putting the football in places for his receivers to win over defensive backs shouldn't be restricted in 2022 when he teams up with the 2021 Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison, highly-touted receiver from the Transfer Portal, Konata Mumpfield, Jared Wayne, and Gavin Bartholomew. Kenny Pickett benefited from Addison, Wayne and Bartholomew bringing down plenty of contested catches last season, so the first challenge for Slovis will be establishing a connection with each of his receiving threats so that their timing is all on the same page.
That's something that Nick Patti reportedly had done in less than a month's time before the Peach Bowl when he played in place of Pickett. Slovis doing that for Pitt shouldn't be too much of a worry, and if he doesn't, Patti could make for an interesting spring camp battle and set up an interesting Blue-Gold Game for April.
But the biggest struggle I see for Slovis in his adjustment to Pitt is what ailed him in his final year with USC. In 2021, Slovis only threw for 11 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, the worst touchdown-interception ratio of his collegiate career. Most of those struggles stem from him consistently working through his progressions. Slovis shows regularly that he keeps his head up looking downfield even when he's under pressure. But too many times, Slovis would stick to his first read on a play and end up making a bad decision.
This is the natural double-edged sword of having a young, confident strong-armed quarterback, as sometimes that confidence to fit a ball into tight passing window creates an unhealthy imbalance between trusting his arm and going through his progressions on a play. Watch this interception Slovis threw in 2020 when a deep in route took time to develop. You can see his eyes stayed looking downfield for his receivers to get open, but his focusing on his man prevented him from seeing other defenders come off their zone assignments and make the interception:
That skill of going through progressions and consistently making the right decisions was Pickett's X-factor as a record setting quarterback last season. Even when initially fooled by a disguised look from a defense, Pickett would go between his reads, adjust and more often than not find a safe and/or effective throw to still work with Pitt's play.
Another asset in Pickett's favor was his mobility, as he rushed for 241 yards and five touchdowns in 2021, including his famous fake-slide play in the ACC Championship. Slovis doesn't have that, as he's finished with negative rushing yards in each of his three seasons and has never scored a rushing touchdown in college football.
That could require a change in how Pitt's offense operated in 2021 going into next season, and could be the biggest focus of Frank Cignetti Jr.'s new tenure as offensive coordinator for the Panthers. Dorin Dickerson talked about how Cignetti quickly shaped Pitt's offense around its playmakers when he previously took over the job in 2009, a year where Dion Lewis rushed for 18 touchdowns, Dickerson caught ten touchdowns while Jonathan Baldwin caught eleven. After coaching a mix of professional and collegiate quarterbacks of various styles over the past three decades, Cignetti should be well suited for such a task with Slovis and all of Pitt's offensive weapons.
Slovis also isn't completely immobile, despite his stats. He's demonstrated the ability to buy time in and outside the pocket when under pressure and still being able to target receivers around the field. Watch this third-and-long conversion against Oregon when Slovis' initial reads to his right were all taken away, leading him to back to his left to find an open man. When he does, he's able to deliver an accurate strike throwing across his body for the first down:
That's a factor that can frustrate defensive coordinators if he can wipe out a play when a defense has the right play called, but it still winds up a big play for the offense.
But that play's also an example of how Slovis works once his first reads aren't available. Once that play broke down, Slovis went into a mode not unlike backyard football and just trusting his eyes to see someone open. It worked on this play, but relying on it too much can backfire, as we saw in the interception showed earlier.
That doesn't mean Slovis is incapable of making such reads, as he has, but it does mean Cignetti will need to prioritize strengthening that part of his game once Slovis has established a solid rapport with his receivers route trees and timing patterns. But on a team with several returning primary receivers, three returning primary running backs, a promising young tight end, and the entire offensive line back, that could help Slovis gel more quickly with the unit in understanding what defenses are doing and how to properly counter blitzes and coverage disguises.
Here's an example when he did that for USC against UCLA. You'll notice the Bruins show a blitz coming from Slovis' left, leading to the offense needing to switch up the call at the line. After calling out the switch, Slovis gets his running back to shift to where the blitz is coming from, and then briefly looks off his true target of a receiver coming on a slant to give him space to work. The receiver ends up dropping it and the ball gets intercepted, but this is still a positive rep from Slovis:
Slovis won't just jump into Pitt's offense and become a phenom, but he does possess the potential to be a difficult quarterback for ACC defenses to face with how he can fit the ball anywhere on the field with a talented receiver group. If Cignetti can pull that out of him and better establish Pitt's ground game, the Panthers' offense could be in a position to be one of the ACC's best, and maybe in the NCAA's best, for a second consecutive year.
If you want to hear more about how Cignetti could be suited to take on that task, listen to my conversation with former All-American Pitt tight end Dickerson, who was a guest on my H2P podcast Sunday:
