New Faces Emerging in Pitt RB Room
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers' first live competition of the preseason is close. A live, closed scrimmage is scheduled for Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium and, in anticipation of that event, have turned up the intensity at practice.
That means practicing in full pads for the first time and running some live 11-on-11 plays as the Panthers did with their second practice of the week. In that live period, the running back rotation was one of the most notable facets of the Pitt offense, with LSU transfer Derrick Davis and Montravius Lloyd taking backup reps over C'Borius Flemmister during team drills while practice was open to media.
“[Davis is] making progress every day," Narduzzi said. "I’ll tell you what, Montravious Lloyd showed up today and … he looked like he had a little motor to him so that’s interesting as well.”
Flemmister has miles more experience than both Lloyd and Davis as a running back. The Notre Dame transfer arrived late last summer and after a full offseason in Pittsburgh, is Pitt's second-leading returning rusher behind Hammond.
Meanwhile, Lloyd is a true freshman that didn't enroll until this summer and Davis toted the ball just 11 times for 57 yards and a touchdown at LSU last season after switching over from defensive back. But Narduzzi has been complimentary of both players - in addition to Flemmister - during training camp and they've piqued his interest as of late.
The Pitt head coach said Davis has surprising speed, given he checked into camp at 6'0 tall and 210 pounds, and is encouraged by how quickly the mid-year transfer has picked up the offense.
"We’ll find out what happens when the pads go on today and obviously when we go live, but he knows the playbook a little bit better than he did in the spring," Narduzzi said last week. "That’s always a concern. Sometimes you get out there and you dot the I and you’re like, okay, you’re about 75% or 80% sure and you’re still questioning whether you know it."
Hammond is undoubtedly the top rusher heading into this season and Flemmister will get his chance to battle for time as well. But Davis and Lloyd are progressing faster than most might have expected, given the transitions both are going through.
Pitt will take all the help they can get at tailback. Hammond and superstar tailback Israel Abaniknada both missed parts of games and even longer periods of time with injuries last season and the Panthers don't want to skip a beat, even if disaster strikes.
"Four, five - it depends," Narduzzi said. "If you stay healthy, you only need two or three. But you never know how that is so you got to have them all ready to go."
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