Wednesday Pitt Football QB Notebook: Battles Down Depth Chart

11-on-11 drills run in shoulder pads granted an early look into the Pitt Panthers' quarterback battle.

PITTSBURGH -- An ongoing battle to become the Pitt Panthers' starting quarterback, fought between Kedon Slovis and Nick Patti, has dominated pre-training camp headlines in Pittsburgh. But evaluations of the Panthers' top two signal callers were based primarily on old film and a healthy bit of speculation. 

But on Wednesday, with the Panthers in pads for the first time since spring ball and hitting permitted, Slovis and Patti competed against a semi-live defense. They were primarily middlemen, handing the ball off to Pitt's deep crop of running backs, but also attempted some passes during an 11-on-11 period of practice. 

Patti, Slovis Attempt First Live Passes

Patti was the bolder of the two players on Wednesday. While the brief period focused primarily on runs, Patti took a shot deep. He aimed for junior receiver Jaylon Barden, who was sprinting across the field after beating sophomore corner P.J. O'Brien. Patti's ball was on target but a bit short, which allowed O'Brien just enough time to recover and bat the pass away. 

Slovis' one throw went to redshirt junior running back Daniel Carter in the flat. After a play fake to junior tailback Israel Abanikanda, Slovis flipped a quick throw to Carter, who was promptly met at the line of scrimmage. The Pitt defense was not fooled. 

Narduzzi Introduces Back-up Battle

For as important as the competition between Slovis and Patti is, there are five other quarterbacks on the Panthers' roster and head coach Pat Narduzzi doesn't want to forget about them. 

During his pre-practice briefing, Narduzzi introduced a new competition, this time for the third-string duties, between sophomore Nate Yarnell and Dartmouth graduate transfer Derek Kyler. Yarnell, who didn't participate in spring practices for an undisclosed reason, seems to be a step behind Kyler for the time being, according to Narduzzi, but the competition is far from closed. 

"Derek Kyler has been good on tape," Narduzzi said. "Nate Yarnell didn't have any spring so he's a work in progress. We'll have to see where he's at. I like his leadership qualities. ... Derek, obviously out at Dartmouth he had some great stats. He's smart and he certainly gives us another guy we can count on."

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