Pitt Looking for Freshmen WRs to Make Impact

The Pitt Panthers' freshmen wideouts will get thrown into the fire quickly.

PITTSBURGH -- From the very outset of 2023 training camp, head coach Pat Narduzzi made a bold prediction about the Pitt Panthers for the coming season. 

"One of those freshmen is going to play for us, maybe two," the Pitt head coach said. "I don't know which one it's going to be, but they're going to play this season for us. There's that competition."

Narduzzi was speaking specifically in reference to his wide receivers who, in search of a third starter and some depth pieces, will be forced to pick from a talented crop of four true freshmen. It's a stark departure from the past two seasons, which have seen few underclassmen and almost no true freshmen take the field for meaningful snaps. 

At receiver, the need for freshmen to step up immediately is most pressing, but conveniently where the Panthers have a wealth of talent among their true freshmen as well. 

Narduzzi was immediately impressed by the talent his young receivers as soon as they each stepped on campus. He named Polk as the most impressive freshman on offense during the spring and Seymore got a jump start by learning the playbook as an mid-year enrollee. Kenny Johnson and Zion Fowler-El joined the team this summer. 

"We've got four true freshmen that are all talented," Narduzzi said. "We saw Izzy in the spring, Lamar Seymore in the spring. All of a sudden, Kenny Johnson comes into town. Zion (Fowler-El) had a heck of a day today, I think he's a football player, Fowler-El. So you watch that and you're going, oof."

The step up from high school to college is unsurprisingly difficult, according to linebackers coach Ryan Manalac, who also has three true freshman in his room that could contribute right away. 

“We’re going to continue to teach them to move efficiently, to defeat blocks, to make tackles and some guys are further ahead in that than others, but [the biggest challenge for freshmen is] getting our language down," Manalac said. "I think we’re a simple defense but it’s still a foreign language to a guy coming from high school where he had a way of calling stuff differently. So the more you’re immersed in it, the better. … They need to see it visually, they need to write it down, they need to fail moving before they get it right.”

Regardless of who wins the battle for that third spot, the Panthers will rotate in whoever is ready to . The freshmen won't just be battling each other, but Florida transfer Daejon Reynolds, redshirt junior walk-on Jake McConnachie and others for limited snaps. 

In a wide open race for playing time, it will come down to who can execute the playbook at the highest level right away and Underwood is going to let that

“With Bub [Means] and Konata [Mumpfield] coming back, they were part of a top three. Now with Jared Wayne departing, we need a third receiver and I feel like I got to take it day by day. And that’s what I tell the guys. Each day is its own entity and you’re going to have a chance to prove yourself."

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