Training Camp Standouts Make Pitt TEs Room Dangerous
PITTSBURGH -- Players and coaches alike have been singing the praises of the Pitt Panthers' tight ends room during camp.
Pitt offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti has said that group made the most drastic improvement of any on the team during summer camp and two-year starter Gavn Bartholomew claims this is the best group of tight ends he's played with since arriving at Pitt.
“I think our tight end room has grown tremendously," Bartholomew said. "Since I’ve got here, it’s been one of the strongest, if not our ‘21 room. We’ve grown so much on the field and off the field as a whole. We’re doing a really good job.”
Bartholomew is a proven commodity - a strong blocker and athletic with the ball in his hands. Backup Karter Johnson has given the Panthers more of the same since joining the team last year as a JuCo transfer.
But where this group has improved the most is on the back end, with the addition of USC and Texas transfer Malcolm Epps and the emergence of redshirt sophomore Jake Renda.
Epps is one of the more physically imposing players on the roster, a 6'6 jump-ball specialist with long arms and supreme athleticism. The physical tools are obvious, and like all newcomers, Epps - who arrived at Pitt just this summer - is still working through the playbook. But once he nails that, the Pitt coaching staff can't wait to unlock his full potential.
“Epps has done a heck of a job. I think he gets better every day," head coach Pat Narduzzi said. "There’s days where he’ll swim and look around. So I think his best ball is ahead of him as we start to move through this."
And Renda has emerged in his third season at Pitt through pure hard work, according to Bartholomew. Narduzzi called the redshirt sophomore a "mismatch", with the athletic ability to outmaneuver the secondary in the passing game and the size to move defensive fronts in the run game.
“His dedication and his work to his craft is like no other," B Bartholomew said. "He’s tried so hard to get on the field and you guys are going to see this year, he’s worked really hard and he’s going to do a great job.”
The tight ends room has a lot of mouths to feed, but a quarterback who likes feeding them. Cignetti's offense is tailored to getting tight ends the ball and Jurkovec looks for them often, meaning this could be a big year for the rapidly improving position group.
“I think all the tight ends are doing well and I think they can be weapons attacking defenses vertically down the middle of the field," Jurkovec said. "I love throwing to tight ends. They’re great targets. They’ve been catching the ball well and running well.”
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