JotCast | Stephen Thompson's Pitt football chat: 08.05.25

Stephen Thompson's Pitt football chat: 08.05.25

Stephen Thompson

1:00

Hey everyone, Stephen Thompson checking in for my first ever PG live chat. Fire away with any questions you have about Pitt football or basketball!

Panthers Enthusiast

1:00

Hi Stephen, there are continuing concerns that Eli has not fully recovered from his injuries from last year. He didn't show much in Spring ball, and we haven't heard much from anyone other than coaches and players who are biased. Have you or any others from the media taken a good look at practice, and what can you tell us about his health and performance so far?

Stephen Thompson

1:04

Hi Panthers Enthusiast. It's true, Eli Holstein did undergo offseason surgery on an injured ankle and his recovery took longer than expected. The effects lingered into spring ball and likely parts of the summer. He says he's fully healthy and even cut a little weight to make him faster and more mobile. I'd say Holstein is moving and throwing well based on our limited view of practice, but he also has some stiffer competition behind him -- Cole Gonzales knows the system and Mason Heintschel throws a pretty ball. I wouldn't say Eli is in danger of losing his starting job, but there's a little more pressure on him to perform than there was in the spring.

1:04

Is there an expected starter at kicker? Big shoes to fill for 2025.

Stephen Thompson

1:05

Well-timed question DJ. Pat Narduzzi was asked about kickers this morning and said Murray State transfer James London has an early edge on redshirt sophomore Sam Carpenter. London struggled in the spring game but Narduzzi said they were some uncharacteristic misses.

Guest

1:05

Looking at the schedule is it crazy to say this should be a 9 win minimum season? The tougher games are at home and with this continually at QB/OC and most of the defense returning this team should be much improved from last year

Stephen Thompson

1:08

I don't think that's crazy, but this schedule is harder than it was a year ago. No Clemson or SMU in ACC games, but you swap out Cincinnati for Notre Dame in the non-conference and still have Louisville, Miami and a Georgia Tech team I think could be really good. Nine wins seems like an ambitious minimum to me.

That said, you're not off base -- this team is better than last year's in my eyes. Nine wins is well within the realm of possibility, and depending on against who they earn those nine wins, it could get them within spitting distance of a playoff spot.

Guest

1:08

Is Des Reid going to keep returning punts and if not him who looks to be the primary Punt and Kick returners for the season

Stephen Thompson

1:10

More good timing. Narduzzi said this morning that he feels the team has four capable punt returners at this point in camp -- Reid, Kenny Johnson, Poppi Williams and Blue Hicks. I'm of the belief that Pitt should take any chance they have to give Reid a break, but I get the sense Narduzzi doesn't want to sacrifice a chance to put the ball in his best playmaker's hands.

PittFan6688

1:10

Your predictions for under the radar breakout stars for football, offense and defense?

Stephen Thompson

1:11

On offense, keep an eye on Zion Fowler-El. Made some big plays in team drills over the weekend. Super athletic slot receiver.

On defense, I'm a big fan of Rashan Murray. He'll have a chance to climb the depth chart quickly and I think Pitt's best corner combination includes him.

Cameron

1:11

Percentage chance Eli Holstein is here after this season?

Stephen Thompson

1:13

I'd put it at 70%. There's a good chance Eli plays well enough this year to earn some NFL Draft buzz. But I'm not sure he could climb high enough that returning to school, playing another year with Kade Bell and trying to increase his stock isn't worth it. And I don't believe he'd transfer as long as Bell is here, if that's what you're getting at.

Guest

1:13

The offense has potential play makers (Reid/Johnson/Holstein). Will the O line be good enough to open holes and give Holstein time in the passing game?

Stephen Thompson

1:15

I believe it will. The transfer additions of Kendall Stanley, Keith Gouevia and Jeff Persi were massive to upgrading this unit. Health is really the only concern. I don't think the Panthers have the depth to deal with another slew of injuries like they incurred last season.

Guest

1:15

So are they going to continue to run the Delta package with 3 safeties or are they going to use more corners this year instead?

Stephen Thompson

1:17

Narduzzi and Randy Bates said this spring that they've experimented with using some of their athletic linebackers in the Delta package recently. Jayden Bonsu is one name they brought up for that purpose. Started his career as a safety at Ohio State and could be used as a hybrid at Pitt. They could also bump Lovelace and Louis out, then slot Jeremiah Marcellin in the middle.

Guest

1:17

Here’s something are they going to use two RB sets at all? I thought last year they would try and use Hammond and Reid in the back field together and I’m wondering if they’ll try it with Reid and Goff at all

Stephen Thompson

1:18

I wouldn't bet on it. Bell wants to spread things out and I haven't seen them practice with dual tailbacks at all this spring or in fall camp.

Guest

1:18

Also are they going to keep being a 100% shotgun offense? Thought it was bizarre they didn’t even have a QB sneak package.

Stephen Thompson

1:19

I would count on them running almost exclusively shotgun, yes. Although Eli Holstein joked this morning on his way out to the field about practicing the tush push at some point today.

Guest

1:19

I think Overman is a fine TE but it seems clear that Thomas is the guy that oozes potential and wondering if they’ll give him looks especially near the end zone?

Stephen Thompson

1:20

Pitt will go deeper at tight end than when Gavin Bartholomew was playing, but it would likely be Justin Holmes (Marshall transfer) who takes up snaps Overman doesn't. Though I agree, Thomas has a ton of potential, he's struggles with drops.

Guest

1:23

I think the defensive line will be solid this year but I do think it will be a unit that doesn’t get a ton of sacks so I’m wondering if there’s a plan to blitz more. You have two superb athletes at the LB position in Louis and Biles and I know they hate taking them out of coverage but I think they could cause real problems for teams if they blitzed more.

Stephen Thompson

1:26

Yes, there is a plan to blitz more. At least there was in the spring when we heard from Randy Bates.

You are spot on, from my view. The defensive line should be a tool that helps you maximize the outstanding linebackers at Pitt's disposal. The defensive line's job should be to eat up blockers and make life easier for Louis and Biles to get in the backfield.

Guest

1:29

Other than Holstein, are there any other injuries or rehab situations we should be paying attention to?

Stephen Thompson

1:30

Des Reid isn't dealing with anything per se, but his ongoing health is important to monitor. Same with the offensive line. Derrick Davis Jr. is out for the year and Ja'Kyrian Turner (who's really turned heads since enrolling in January) isn't fully healthy either, which hurts the running back depth.

Other than that, the Panthers entered August pretty healthy. Narduzzi and the coaching staff did less live contact during the spring to make that possible.

Guest

1:34

How was Goff looked? I know they’re probably going to try and lessen the burden of Reid a bit this year and outside of Goff there’s really zero production to lean on so he needs to be pretty good this season.

Stephen Thompson

1:34

Goff has gotten off to a good start, but he's still an inexperienced player. This is really his first training camp since he was dealing with an arm injury for most of last year. Goff is a capable player and I'd expect him to be even better by the time camp is over.

But Reid's workload is dependent on his health alone, not how well his backups are playing. I am hesitant to say they will want to limit his touches at all.

Guest

1:35

I know they brought in the transfer in from Western Carolina to be a depth piece and short-yardage back but does that mean that Reid isn’t going to be the back in short yardage and goaline situations?

Stephen Thompson

1:36

At the risk of repeating myself, no I wouldn't expect the WCU transfer Jalynn Williams to take away any snaps from Reid. There might be some situations where he's used as a lead blocker or runner in the occasional heavy package, but Reid will touch the ball as many times as his body allows.

1:36

Painful for me to project however my call is 7-5 this year.

Stephen Thompson

1:36

I thought hope was supposed to spring eternal this time of year?

Guest

1:38

I know Eli was still recovering from his leg injury but are they still going to be aggressive with him carrying the ball or is that going to be limited this year. Think Eli’s running was one of the keys to the early season success of the offense and when he got hurt and Yarnell came in that element was just gone.

Stephen Thompson

1:38

The thing about quarterback runs in Kade Bell's offense is that they are mostly scrambles, not designed runs. In a perfect world, they would probably want to throw on every play. I think Eli's ability to move around in and manipulate the pocket, then make some plays off script, is more important than whether or not he can run for first downs.

Guest

1:39

best guess at current RB depth chart

Stephen Thompson

1:39

Desmond Reid
Juelz Goff
Ja'Kyrian Turner
Justin Cook
Jalynn Williams

Guest

1:42

WR depth chart

Stephen Thompson

1:42

1st team: Kenny Johnson, Poppi Williams, CJ Lee
2nd: Blue Hicks, Zion Fowler-El, Deuce Spann

Tony Kinsler could easily join that second team by the time training camp is over. Bryce Yates is another true freshman to keep an eye on.

Guest

1:47

I don’t trust Junko for one second, he could punt it 80 yards but the issue is when you need a huge punt in a critical situation he always shanks it or it’s a 20 yard punt. They really can’t get anyone else?

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