5AF's 2018-19 Premier Pittsburgh Super Panthers Football Thread (and Basketball)

[Dickie Dunn]

TIL that shad gives himself 23 minutes between alter ego posts in the same thread.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Tj porter implicated in shadys home invasion debacle

[Dickie Dunn]

Oh boy. Porter was implicated in Shady's nightclub incident a couple of years ago. Nice to see he found some kind of career for himself.

[Stoosh]

Batko reporting via Twitter that Chris Pine is moving from MLB to DE.

Batko followed up with this: "Narduzzi said he thinks Chase Pine will pick up DE quickly and add a different style to a position group that already has plenty of them. Called him smart enough to do it on the fly here in camp."

Pine is listed at 6'2", 250 so he may be a little big for MLB. I agree with some of the fans that replied to this saying that Pine's size and speed would make him a potentially good rush DE. Pine had been getting reps at MLB with the first unit along with Wirginis, but I think Wirginis is going to start there and they seem comfortable with Reynolds behind him.

I read some accounts that said Hendrix and Weaver looked good in Saturday's scrimmage so if those are accurate, that's good. If they can get a player with Pine's pedigree into the mix at DE, that's fine because it builds depth beyond this year as Hendrix and Folston will move on. Folston has hit his ceiling and I don't think he'll be much more than a rotational backup.

In fact, John Morgan has turned some heads during practices, so much so that I've seen him in the top three of a few of the "what true freshmen might play" articles that are starting to float around (along with Shocky, Salahuddin and Marquise Williams). It wouldn't surprise me if that DE rotation is Hendrix and Weaver, backed up by Pine and Jones or Morgan when October rolls around.

EDIT: Jim Hammett from PL added some info to this. This is a move to take advantage of some versatility that Pine has showed and for this to be a way to get him on the field. He can move back to MLB if depth there becomes an issue, but Narduzzi and Co. have reportedly been happy with Reynolds and Wendell Davis. I guess that speaks well of Davis, too.

[Freddy Rumsen]

Ive seen ACC reports that say Shocky is shooting up every teams list of impact freshman.

[Stoosh]

Peak reporting on Panther Lair and Twitter that redshirt sophomore transfer WR Taysir Mack can play this year, so that could be a nice shot in the arm for the offense. Mack had 23 receptions for 310 yards and 3 TDs last year as a redshirt freshman at Indiana. He's listed at 6'2", 195, so he'll bring a little bit more size to the WR position.

[Dickie Dunn]

Oh wow. Mack being eligible is a huge boost to the receiving corps. The constantly talked him up in the spring as being the best receiver on the field.

It's nice to see that the move with Pine is an attempt at finding ways to get him on the field. When it comes to college defenses I'm always a fan of the big, athletic tackling machine manning the MLB position, something that Pitt hasn't had since McKillop. I had high hopes that Pine was going to be that guy, but Wirginis has always had the makings of a talented (and underused) MLB.

In general, the LB deployment in camp has been odd to me. Brightwell has gone from the mainstay at MiLB to backing up Zeise, who at a listed 240 lbs. has put on some damn weight. The coaches remain obsessed with Idowu, but I would have looked at moving Brightwell there and using Idowu as a jack of all trades backup at all three positions. McKee has not shown much to date, but it's nice that the coaches are speaking highly of him and Bright.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

How the hell do we know mack is an upgrade over anyone?

[Dickie Dunn]

He had 23 receptions for 310 yards and 3 TDs last season as a freshman. Of the returning WRs RAL had 43 for 531, Ffffffrench had 25 for 272 (almost all of which were Henderson-esque dump offs), and Mathews had 16 for 189. Those three guys combined for 2 receiving TDs, both of which were RAL. The only other WR on the roster with any playing experience is Tipton, who had 12 for 142 and 1 in 2016. Nobody else has played in a game. Additionally, the coaches have spoken highly of Mack, usually above the other WRs.

Do we know that Mack is an upgrade? Nope, but at the very least he's as good as the guys who were already eligible to play this season.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

fair enough points. I hate to say it but im so self loathing about pitt football that I refuse to believe anything positive about any player that has at least some unknown element. There have been too many times where a guy is making splashes in practice and ends up being a dud

[willeyeam]

fair enough points. I hate to say it but im so self loathing about pitt football that I refuse to believe anything positive about any player that has at least some unknown element. There have been too many times where a guy is making splashes in practice and ends up being a dud

He'll be a Biletnikoff finalist imo H2P

[Dickie Dunn]

fair enough points. I hate to say it but im so self loathing about pitt football that I refuse to believe anything positive about any player that has at least some unknown element. There have been too many times where a guy is making splashes in practice and ends up being a dud

He'll be a Biletnikoff finalist imo H2P

This is the correct take.

[Freddy Rumsen]

He'll score the 6th and 7th TD's on Sept. 8th.

[slappybrown]

fair enough points. I hate to say it but im so self loathing about pitt football that I refuse to believe anything positive about any player that has at least some unknown element. There have been too many times where a guy is making splashes in practice and ends up being a dud

This is a bad take imo. In a vacuum and excluding both your hard-earned Pitt baggage and the usual coach platitudes about dudes looking good in shorts and helmets, he had real production for a RS FR in an (albeit hilariously overrated) P5 conference. If he had done that as a RS FR for Pitt you'd be expecting 50 rec, 750 yds and 5 touches as a baseline this year. And I'll add I expect that baseline production from both Mack and RAL.

[Nittany Ned]

He'll score the 6th and 7th TD's on Sept. 8th.

I was gonna slide in with a troll post showing he had 1 catch for 4 yards against PSU in one of Indiana’s many blowout losses in State College last year.

But then I saw Juwan Johnson had literally the exact same line in 33-14 last year.

So touché. Gonna be some new faces stepping up in this year’s matchup. Conner, Barkley, Gesicki all did their damage and now it’s time for Sanders, Juwan, and whoever may step to the plate for Pitt (don’t really remember anyone who did any sort of damage on Pitt from last year honestly) this year.

Should be fun. Remember not to negate the Trace factor though.

[Dickie Dunn]

I'd say that Max Browne did the most damage last year.

Looking at the box score for last year's game was the first time since February that I remembered Ben DiNucci being a person who existed. I am quite grateful for that era being over, largely before it even started.

[willeyeam]

Is the Trace factor when he fumbles five times?

[Nittany Ned]

Is the Trace factor when he fumbles five times?

We have a “Pitt fans say the darnest things” thread over on BWI for good reason.

It’s mostly the PantherLair contingent. I don’t know what some of those folks are on.

[Dickie Dunn]

What a sad bunch.

[willeyeam]

Is the Trace factor when he fumbles five times?

We have a “Pitt fans say the darnest things” thread over on BWI for good reason.

It’s mostly the PantherLair contingent. I don’t know what some of those folks are on.

It's cute that you care

[Nittany Ned]

Most of you aren’t bad.

But I find it interesting how much some folks are gushing about Pitt’s WR position. That Shocky kid could be good - but he’s a 3 Star, barely top 100 receiver.

As for Taysir Mack, it’s weird how Pitt fans go on about how much more talented the ACC is than the B1G, yet seem so fired up about one of the lesser B1G team’s 3 star receiver.

Tell you what, I will come eat crow if these guys do some serious damage in two weeks.

And yeah I’ll be honest, most of us do care about Pitt to a certain extent. We just are a pretty cocky bunch that feels great about the direction of our program especially in comparison to the next best school in the state. Also, plenty of Pittsburgh area kids go to PSU and several (successful) PSU grads are living in Pittsburgh.

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

8 posts from Ned in the last two pages of this thread.

I don’t have 8 posts in the last two pages of the soccer thread BC I don’t gaf about soccer.

[Joegap]

Is the Trace factor when he fumbles five times?

We have a “Pitt fans say the darnest things” thread over on BWI for good reason.

It’s mostly the PantherLair contingent. I don’t know what some of those folks are on.

I read PantherLair and you are literally the Penn State version of them. You’re saying “Pitt fans say the darnest things” yet here you are in the Pitt thread trying to tell everyone McSorley is good. I just put that in my Nittany Ned says the most Nimwitted things thread.

[Stoosh]

Most of you aren’t bad.

But I find it interesting how much some folks are gushing about Pitt’s WR position. That Shocky kid could be good - but he’s a 3 Star, barely top 100 receiver.

As for Taysir Mack, it’s weird how Pitt fans go on about how much more talented the ACC is than the B1G, yet seem so fired up about one of the lesser B1G team’s 3 star receiver.

Tell you what, I will come eat crow if these guys do some serious damage in two weeks.

And yeah I’ll be honest, most of us do care about Pitt to a certain extent. We just are a pretty cocky bunch that feels great about the direction of our program especially in comparison to the next best school in the state. Also, plenty of Pittsburgh area kids go to PSU and several (successful) PSU grads are living in Pittsburgh.

No one is gushing about Pitt's WR position, Ned. I know you like to troll but holy hell...this is creating a cloud so you have something to yell at.

In almost every discussion and publications I've read, Pitt's wide receiver group is either the biggest or second-biggest question mark on this team, offensive line being the other. The returning receiving leader is a slot receiver. The rest of the players with experience have been backups or they're returning from injury.

If there's excitement or optimism, it's strictly about what could be. There's potential with some names. There's also the notion that their production as a group last year may have been hampered by Browne and Dinucci's struggles to get them the ball consistently enough to make the passing game a threat. Pickett should be better.

Regarding Shocky, stars and top-100 lists go only so far. It's a subjective value. The fact is SJL was good enough to get offers from 19 P5 schools, among them Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Oregon and Tennessee. If those coaches thought he'd be good enough to contribute to their program, that's worth more to me than star rankings & top-100 lists. He may be a star, he may not, or he may just contribute modestly, as most true freshmen who play tend to do. We'll wait & see, but at least some high-profile programs run by people who evaluate these kids for the sake of their own jobs thought enough of the kid to try to bring him in to their programs.

Same with Mack. He looked good in the spring. His production at IU last year as a redshirt freshman is on par or better than most of what is coming back here. Some further context on his numbers: he played his way onto a depth chart last year that featured two receivers now catching passes in NFL camps. No one's saying he's going to make anyone forget Larry Fitzgerald, but he should help.

[Freddy Rumsen]

Good stuff Stoosh.