Penn State Football 2016 Preview

[Crimson's Ghost]

Pitt does have a more difficult September schedule with trips to top 25 teams Ok State and UNC overall, but Penn State is underdogs in two of their September games with Pitt and Michigan and lost to a third September opponent last year in Temple. 

I'd say it's about equal because neither team has a ceiling higher than 8-4. 

[KirkHerbstreit]

Crimson...when is the Pitt preview? Here is a question for you...why do Pitt fans think they have a good dline? Juan Price had 3 good games last year out of 13. He had 9 sacks in 3 games and 2.5 in the other 10. Hendrix, the other D end, has 2 snaps on his resume in his career. He transferred from Tennessee and his options were Pitt, Iowa st, and northern Illinois. The DT's are led by Shakir Soto, converted DE, and an overweight Jarett who has done nothing in his career. Am I missing something?

[Crimson's Ghost]

I think as far as defensive line stats go, I think "Tackles for Loss" also quantifies as an important stat.  Price led the ACC in sacks last year and was 4th in tackles for loss. So even in some of those games without sacks, he was still making plays.  Price is pretty good, and that's not necessarily Pitt fans saying that. That's coming from most preseason outlets.  He's considered one of the best defensive linemen in the ACC. So I don't think it's fair to say he only had 3 good games, since he was Pitt's best defensive linemen all year long. He was receiving extra attention/double teams ect.  Pitt's defense was limited in playmakers last year, so the opposition knew Price had to be accounted for. 

As for Hendrix, he was a top 80 recruit coming out of high school and managed to get on the field as a true freshmen in the SEC.  I think he's going to be pretty good. The coaches seem to like his game, and from what I understand he's been impressing in practice since he stepped foot on campus. 

I also think Rori Blair as a third option should give them a little depth. He's been up and down in his career, but he has talent. 


As for defensive tackles, I'm skeptical of Soto, but his frame may be better suited for the inside. He's been a very disappointing player over the years, because he did some good things as a freshmen and it never carried into his sophomore and junior years. It sounds like he's put in a fair amount of work in the offseason. 

Tyrique Jarrett however is a pretty good defensive tackle, his biggest concern would be conditioning.  I believe he was second team All ACC last year in limited action.  If he can stay on the field, he can be a productive player.

Pitt hit the defensive line recruiting hard last season, there's 3-4 freshmen that may see some action this year and Narduzzi seems pretty high on all of them. 


So you have the ACC's returning sack leader, a four star 6'4" 270 pound transfer from the SEC, and 2 four year experienced guys as starters.  Most fans would buy into that hype. 


So in terms of evaluating, it makes perfectly good sense why Pitt's defensive line is getting some preseason hype, since that's how things like Phil Steele, ESPN, Athlon, Sporting News essentially make their magazines. So I think Pitt fans are buying into what they are being told. 

[KirkHerbstreit]

I think you're very wrong about Jarrett. He has been unproductive his entire career per Pitt fans I know. Soto is a lot of wishful thinking too. Was very underwhelming as a DE. I'd never count on true freshman at DT. Aaron Donald wasn't even productive as a true Frosh

As for DE, I'll give you price although I don't think he is what Pitt fans make him out to be. He is an undersized edge rusher that relies on speed around the edge. Kind of a one trick pony. Media awards are made by guys who look at the 11.5 sacks and think wow, but the reality is that he was limited on the stat sheet a lot

Hendrix is an odd case then because if you think a guy is getting reps at an Sec school, he would stay there. I'm thinking the coaching staff had a talk with him. Also, if a guy is a top 80 recruit and so desired then why are northern Illinois and Iowa St his loan suitors? Does not add up

[Crimson's Ghost]

All fair points you are making, I'm just going off of what I've read and heard really. We should know more a week from now.  Of the three levels of the defense, I think it has a chance to be the best. But Pitt is firmly in the middle of the Paul Chryst defensive recruiting mess. It's going to take Duzz another few years to have the defensive talent he really wants. 

I do think Jarrett's problem is conditioning not talent, but maybe he's still out of shape. There's no sure thing there. Like I said I'm skeptical of Soto, I literally don't know what to expect from him, but the bar isn't that high from me. I think his skill set may work out better at DT, but I haven't seen it yet to know.  The freshmen (Camp, Watts, Wheeler) are obviously talented, but again you don't don't know what to expect. I think they can be a strength in 2 seasons though. 

Hendrix had Ole Miss, Florida, Ohio State, and Michigan State offers out of high school plus the ranking to match the offers, there has to be something there. Tennessee also has enough talent that they would have redshirted him if they didn't think he could play as a freshmen. So on one hand I can see why something doesn't add up, but on the other there's still the pedigree in place for him to be a good player. He's gotten strong reviews since he's been here. We're all pretty excited to see him in action to see if the hype matches the player. 

Price is a good player, I really do believe that. He isn't a typical defensive end, he resembles what Elvis Dummervil was for Louisville a few years ago. 

[GoldenRamsFAN]

Its funny you heard anything at all or read anything. I was listening to the fan 93.7 and they were all saying Pitt is closed practice and no media. No one down here has an idea what the team is going to look like. I think it's a little odd someone from Johnstown knows more then the media from Pittsburgh.

[El-Moldo]

Hey Herb. What's with this Hendrix "loan" suitors thing? Is there a scandal brewing?

[Crimson's Ghost]

Its funny you heard anything at all or read anything. I was listening to the fan 93.7 and they were all saying Pitt is closed practice and no media. No one down here has an idea what the team is going to look like. I think it's a little odd someone from Johnstown knows more then the media from Pittsburgh.

Maybe 93-7 The Fan should get a subscription to Pantherlair?  I know who the 22 starters are. It's not classified information. 

The Post Gazette beat writer pretty much named them this morning. 

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/Pitt ... 1608280145

[Crimson's Ghost]

I did cover a few practices when Chryst was the coach and everything was 100% open.  From stretching to the final whistle you could literally watch everything they were doing.


Narduzzi seems a little more intense and has it closed after the first 45 minutes, but the media sees about 45 minutes then they have to go inside. I haven't been able to get down there, and with the small window to watch I wasn't really making it a point to go either.  There's still media opportunities at the end of practice with Narduzzi and usually another coach or two and 3-4 players. Coach may not paint the whole story, but you know who is in what position battle and who is ahead of who. You know which players he likes and others he says needs work.  


So I'm actually curious what 93-7 doesn't know, it's a closed football practice not the atomic bomb codes.

[El-Moldo]

Who's the idiot who does the Channel 8 sports at 10 o'clock? Comes on tonight with a short preview of Pitt and PSU's games this weekend. Of course, he had to make mention that Pitt plays a FCS team. Then says Penn State's schedule is an "upgrade" over Pitt's, by playing Kent State. Really? Got news for him. Sagarin has Villanova ranked 134th, while Kent State is ranked 154th. Is this guy for real? Maybe he should do a little research before he opens his trap.