Some of Pitt’s Class of 2020 early enrollees have been described as position flexible by head coach Pat Narduzzi and the players themselves throughout the recruiting process.
Millville, New Jersey’s Solomon DeShields and Deerfield Beach, Florida’s Aydin Henningham can both play offense and defense, and as the Pitt class filled in different places at different times, it looked like both players could be in different spots.
Narduzzi said that DeShields will start out at linebacker, alongside fellow early enrollee A.J. Roberts, at least partially because that’s how DeShields saw himself.
“When they came on campus, I guess it was the sixth of January, they introduced themselves and he introduced himself as a linebacker,” Narduzzi said. “I said, ‘OK, you’re a linebacker now.’ He could do anything, but he’s going to start out at linebacker. Because he said [he is]. Now, he might change his mind next week.”
Narduzzi seems less certain about where Henningham will fit. He played extensively at wide receiver and in the defensive backfield at Deerfield Beach. Pitt has another early enrollee at wide receiver in Maryland’s Jordan Addison and safety in South Carolina defensive back Buddy Mack.
“If Paris [Ford] was gone and Damar [Hamlin] was gone, I’d tell you he was a safety,” Narduzzi said. “With those guys coming back, I think really, it’s to him on what he wants to do. We’ll watch him run around in our workouts and the weight room and we’ll kind of see where he fits athletically. I think that’s the fun part for coaches.”
Hopefully Henningham can step up as a contributing WR. Would be nice to have a guy with hands that can add a needed dimension to our offense.
I’m all for finding guys that can help on either end of completing a forward pass.
I feel Henningham has the potential to be a great receiver especially given the fact that next years recruiting class will likely bring Javon McIntyre and hopefully Donovan McMillon into the fold when it comes to the Pitt secondary. I feel the best spot for Henningham is as a receiver and I expect him to become a really fine and dependable receiver for Pitt.
So when you factor in Jahvonte Royal that I envision taking one of the safety spots after the departure of both Hamlin and Ford and when you think of Javon McIntyre and possibly McMillon coming in next year the secondary for Pitt seems like it will be looking good and that in my mind should free up Henningham to concentrate on becoming that excellent receiver that he’ll become at Pitt.