The Pitt football team finished their 7th practice of the spring at the Pitt/UPMC Sports Complex. No major news came out of the practice but that’s a good thing because it means no injuries.
For those that believe these early practices don’t have much meaning, I can tell you that Pat Narduzzi disagrees with you. This is a time that the coaching staff gets to evaluate players and starting forming the team depth chart.
We spoke with Narduzzi following today’s workout.
“First practice, the first practice we’re putting it (depth chart) together. We’re constantly putting that puzzle together as far as where they are”, said Narduzzi.
Does that depth chart change a lot during the spring?
“Everyday, our depth chart we talk about it as a staff everyday and who’s doing what. As a staff we’ll go through offense, defensive depth and special teams and say where are we? The players need to be graded everyday and know where they are. If you have a bad day, you move down, if you have a good day, you move up”, said Narduzzi.
Since the start of spring practices, has their been much change in the depth chart?
“Yeah, there’s been change everyday. Obviously you guys can’t see if much during the individual drills (which is what the media is permitted to view). But there’s certainly been change without a doubt”, said Narduzzi. “We have good competition in the backfield (Hall, Olison, Moss), the wide receivers are battling. As far as linebacker play, Saleem Brightwell is in their fighting at the linebacker spot and he’s doing a nice job and we’ve talked a few times about Elijah Zeise and Jalen Williams. In the secondary, Reggie Mitchell and Terrish Webb continue to battle.”
Has anyone stepped up or really surprised you so far?
“I guess the biggest surprise is when you move a guy like Elijah, that’s something that, that’s probably the biggest surprise because you move him there hoping and wishing that he’ll have success but you never know. So it’s always a surprise when a guy steps in there and plays in my opinion, as good as he’s playing right now.”
The team will hold seven more practices before the annual Spring Game, which will take place on April 16th at Heinz Field, 1 PM.
