Spring practice has come to a close for the Pitt Panthers football team and it all culminates with the annual Blue-Gold spring game, which will be played Friday night at Bethel Park High School.
This isn’t just any spring game though as it carries some weight for several Pitt players competing for jobs in Paul Chryst’s second season on the Panthers’ sidelines.
When it comes to spring football, it’s similar to exhibition baseball. Stats don’t really matter as much as showing the coaching staff what you can do.
With that being said, no one will be under the microscope more than quarterback Tom Savage.
Savage will run the first team offense and has the arm strength that coaches like. What he needs to show is that he can throw the ball accurately and that he is comfortable running the Panthers offense.
If he’s not, it is an opportunity for redshirt freshman Chad Voytik to open up some eyes. Voytik has the mobility and can make plays with his leg. He was highly recruited last season and Friday night will be an opportunity to show what he can do.
It’s also important for the running backs.
After Rushel Shell’s transfer, Isaac Bennett and Malcolm Crockett will get the bulk of the carries.
Bennett will begin with the first team, but the key to separate themselves from one another will be who can do the little things, such as catching the ball out of the backfield and picking up blitzes consistently.
There are also questions at wide receiver.
It will be interesting to see if Devin Street continues to impress after a very strong spring. After that, it’s up to the likes of Ed Tinker, Kevin Weatherspoon, and Ronald Jones to show that they can make plays on the other side. All have had their moments during spring practice. Now one of them has the opportunity to emerge.
However the biggest question mark on this team lies on the offensive line, where Pitt will have two redshirt freshmen-Adam Bisnowaty at left tackle, Gabe Roberts at center- and two returning starters playing different positions-Cory King moving from left tackle to left guard, Matt Rotheram moving from right tackle to right guard. The right tackle position is up in the air right now, but that is expected to go to true freshman Dorian Johnson once camp begins in the summer.
Either way, entering the season with three new starters on the offensive line will raise a lot of questions as the Panthers head into the ACC. It will be interesting to see what kind of chemistry the front five will have right off the bat.
Oh, but there are questions on the defensive side of the ball as well.
Pitt has great depth at defensive tackle with the likes of Aaron Donald and Tyrone Ezell, with Darryl Render and Khaynin Mosley-Smith backing them up. But on the outside, it looks like returning starter Bryan Murphy will be flanked by Ohio State transfer and former fullback David Durham. The Panthers got no production a year ago from their defensive ends and the pressure will be on Murphy and Durham to change that.
The Pitt linebacking core doesn’t have much experience, but has a ton of potential.
Of the guys that practiced this spring, Mike Caprara is playing the middle in place of Shane Gordon, who is injured, Todd Thomas and Anthony Gonzalez are on the outside and all three are capable of making plays.
The secondary is particularly strong with K’Waun Williams and Lafayette Pitts forming a very nice tandem. There is depth there, so corner may be the deepest position on the team right now. As for the safeties, Jason Hendricks won’t play because of a foot injury, which means that Eric Williams will be starting at free safety next to Ray Vinopal. Williams started 13 games at linebacker last season while Vinopal started one game.
While spring football doesn’t particularly mean that much, don’t tell that to this collection of Pitt players as all are looking for the opportunity to impress the coaching staff and open up camp as starters.
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