Sights & Sounds: Pitt Caps Off Week 4 of the Spring

PITTSBURGH — Pitt is now a little more than halfway done with its spring schedule, with just over two weeks until the Blue-Gold Spring Game on April 13, and it’s been a steady progression so far.

Pitt hosted just about the entire Penn Hills football team, who got to check out Penn Hills grad Julian Dugger in action, and future Panthers Cameron Lindsey and Davin Brewton were able to take in a practice together from the sidelines. A quick aside: the future linebacking corps is looking brighter and brighter by the day.

The future of the safety unit is just as bright, too.

It’s as if the entire secondary has takeaway stickers, and quite a few of the defensive backs have multiple. Tamon Lynum has one, Cruce Brookins, Rashad Battle and Ryland Gandy have two and Jesse Anderson and P.J. O’Brien Jr. have three. Donovan McMillon stands alone with four. There’s a reason the defense won the first scrimmage.

I think McMillon and Javon McIntyre have the starting spots locked down right now, and O’Brien is going to play a lot, but then there’s the duo of Cruce Brookins and Jesse Anderson. I can see that duo starting together for multiple seasons eventually, but what about this season? We’ll see.

Ryland Gandy is pretty secure in taking one of the starting Pitt cornerback slots, and it seems like Lynum, Battle and Tamarion Crumpley are in the mix.

Nate Yarnell still has a pretty good hold on the starting spot at quarterback, and unsurprisingly, Eli Holstein or Christian Veilleux are receiving a lot of reps. Veilleux threw for the position players at Pro Day, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if Holstein starts to cement himself as the top backup throughout the remainder of the spring.

I know Rodney Hammond Jr. is going to play a lot in 2024 (I’d like to think so, finally), but it’s going to be interesting to see who else emerges. I’d say Desmond Reid and Derrick Davis Jr. right now. Montravius Lloyd is big and strong, and he’s shifty for a player who’s 215 pounds, and Juelz Goff is a burner.

I like Poppi Williams’ game, too. He’s only listed at 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, and that might be 165 pounds soaking wet, but he’s fast and has made some very impressive catches. If he’s able to consistently get open out of the slot, that opens up the offense significantly. Konata Mumpfield and Kenny Johnson are going to play outside. DaeDae Reynolds will play a lot, too. There’s gonna be six who play a lot.