5 Pitt Panthers Who Will Step Up Against FIU and Play Well The Rest Of The Year
The Pitt Panthers sit at 1-2 on the season and all of the early season hype has gone down the tubes. They are out of the rankings and wont be back there anytime soon with the way they are playing.
The only thing left now is to pick up the pieces and play football for the rest of the year. The Panthers have many issues and it is going to be hard to correct them all within this year but some problems can be fixed.
They welcome a Florida International team that is 0-3 and looking to pull a huge upset at Heinz Field. It will be hard for them to do but it isn’t impossible as they almost upset Rutgers earlier in the year.
If the Panthers want to contend in the Big East they are going to need some new players to step up to the plate and play well. These are the five guys who I think will break out this Saturday and keep playing well.
#5: T.J. Clemmings/Brandon Lindsey
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The Panthers burned the red shirt of freshman T.J. Clemmings once they learned that Greg Romeus was going to get surgery.
He was the number one recruit out of New Jersey and the number six defensive end overall. Although he only played two years of high school ball the kid is good.
Lindsey is currently listed as the starter and he had a good game against New Hampshire notching a couple of sacks. If Lindsey can get into the backfield he may be the right man to inject this pass rush with some life again.
#4: Jonathan Baldwin
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Baldwin shouldn’t be in a slump at all. The fact he only has 197 yards and two touchdowns is terrible. Once you dig deep and realize that 100 of those yards were against New Hampshire your head wants to cave in.
This kid was impact player last year and now is relegated to running routes and not getting a look from the quarterback. As long as Tino Sunseri doesn’t look his way he is going to be in a slump.
Hopefully this will be the week that Sunseri realizes he has a kid that he can go to every play and he will probably come down with the ball more often then not.
If he gets going then the rest of this offense will loosen up and start making plays.
#3: Lucas Nix
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Dave Wannstedt finally made the right move and moved Nix to the starting right guard spot. The interior of the line has been awful and a move had to be made sooner or later.
Nix wasn’t playing badly this year but he will step up as a starting guard and help shore up the middle of the line. If he can help the line get a push the typical Pitt running game may be back to its old self.
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#2: Andrew Taglianetti
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Another problem area for the Panthers this year has been the secondary. They have just played awful and have had some players banged up.
It appears that Andrew Taglianetti is recovering from a groin injury and will be closer to 100 percent this weekend. He played very well for the Panthers last year and his injury is hurting the team this year.
If he can shake the groin injury and get back to playing like he did last year the secondary should take a huge step forward.
#1: Ray Graham
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You can make the argument that Ray Graham is the only useful player on the offensive side of the ball for the Panthers this year.
You may also ask yourself how can he step up after playing so well in the first two games. The answer is, this may be the week he takes the starting job.
I love Dion Lewis but he isn’t getting it done and Graham is. It will be hard to sit him on the bench if he goes for 100 yards again.
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