Team Recruiting Countdown: No. 23 Pittsburgh Panthers

No. 23 Pittsburgh Panthers (Big East No. 1)

2008 Haul: 19 signees, 3 Athlon Consensus 100

Scouting Report:

With one of the worst offenses in the Big East in 2007, skill position players that can make big plays and stretch the field were a definite area of concern. Pitt certainly addressed this need. Jonathan Baldwin (Aliquippa, Pa.) is a special talent that could play tight end or wide receiver. An athletic 6-6 outside threat is tough to find; he starts from day one. Jarred Holley (Easton, Pa.), Cameron Sadler (Monroeville, Pa.) and Mike Shanahan (North Huntington, Pa.) will all add playmaking ability to the offense. Sadler is a tiny prospect but can take it the distance on any play. He will be an impact player in the return game as well.

Dave Wannstedt is losing two bookend tackles in Jeff Otah and Mike McGlynn along the offensive line and Lucas Nix (Jefferson Hills, Pa.) will fill that void right away. Nix has the potential to play on both defense or offense. With his athletic ability, size and solid feet, offensive tackle will be his destination.

Is Pat Bostick the future of Panther football at the quarterback position? He may be, but just in case he isn’t, the former NFL Coach of the Year landed a nice pair of signal callers. Greg Cross (Brunswick, Ga. by way of Fort Scott, Kan.) and Tino Sunseri (Pittsburgh, Pa.) will push Bostick for the reigns of the newly revamped Panther offense. Cross has more play-calling experience and can make plays with his legs.

The next big star in the Pitt defensive front will be Shayne Hale (Monroeville, Pa.). He played linebacker in high school but could be a terror off the edge as a defensive end. His closing speed is astonishing.

All in all, the Pitt staff once again has done a great job recruiting, especially in the fertile grounds of the Keystone State. Fourteen of the 19 signees call Pennsylvania home. Now, Pitt fans need to see all this talent translated into wins.

Top Prospect: Jonathan Baldwin – TE/WR – Aliquippa, Pa. (6-6, 220)

There has been some debate about where Baldwin (AC100 No. 16) will end up in college. Some scouts say he will be a wide receiver. If The ’Stache decides to move him outside, he will be sacrificing one of the major aspects of Baldwin’s game: inline blocking. He is an outstanding blocker. When dealing with pass-catching tight ends in this class, he is easily the best blocker of the bunch.

Baldwin’s athleticism is what makes scouts think wide receiver, though. He has great size and vertical leaping ability. He will go up and make the circus catch — which was evident in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, when he leaped over a defender to snag a long touchdown bomb. He has great straight-line speed for a player of his size.

Baldwin will be a dynamic red zone threat no matter what position he ends up at.

Best of the Rest:

Shayne Hale – LB/DE – Monroeville, Pa. (6-4, 240) — AC100 No. 55
Lucas Nix – OL – Jefferson Hills, Pa. (6-6, 300) — AC100 No. 35
Chris Burns – RB – New Wilmington, Pa. (5-10, 190)
Cameron Sadler – ATH – Monroeville, Pa. (5-7, 165)
Antwuan Reed – CB – Johnstown, Pa. (5-10, 180)

Sleeper: Jarred Holley – ATH – Easton, Pa. (5-10, 180)

If Jonathan Baldwin is the bigger, vertical threat, Holley will be the slot man. He will be very effective in the short passing game working around the line of scrimmage on bubble screens and quick routes. He also has the potential to return kicks and/or play defense at the corner back position.

Ohio State Pulls Torrence's Offer

Do everything athlete from Massillon, OH Devoe Torrence has been committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes for quite a while now. Apparently, Jim Tressell and Co. have decided to pull his scholarship offer. There has been some growing concern about Torrence's off-the-field issues. Namely his grades.

Most schools would kill for a chance at a kid like Torrence but the Buckeyes have a top-10 recruiting class and, I guess, have the luxury of being able to basically cut him.

Torrence is ranked No. 57 in the Athlon Consensuc 100.

Torrence played running back, wide receiver and linebacker in high school, so needless to say he is a versatile prospect. He is even being recruited as a tight end by some schools. He is most ready to play the running back position, though. He is a bigger back who runs with great physicality that makes him difficult to tackle in one-on-one situations. He runs downhill and rarely loses yards. His power, strength and size will keep him durable on the next level. The most noticeable weakness on film is his ball-carrying technique. He will have to learn to tuck the ball better is he expects to play running back in the Big Ten.

At linebacker, he shows excellent physical tools and solid tackling ability. His reaction time is slow and his diagnostic skills seem to be lacking. When he does find the right lane, though, he attacks it well and generally gets the job done. In the open field, he can play too upright at times. Coverage skills will be a huge question mark.

He is just another athlete in Columbus but will be a major player for any of the smaller programs chasing his talents. Torrence's finalists prior to committing to OSU were:

Akron, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State and Cincinnati

If I am Brian Kelly and the Bearcats I go after Torrence with full force and I make sure he gets into school. He could really give a boost to a mediocre Cincy class.

Photo by Athlon Sports

Terrelle Pryor heading to LSU?

Life for the top prospect in the nation is hectic to say the least.

The Oregon Ducks paid the young QB a visit a few weeks ago and they ended up on his short list of favorites. Then RichRod took the Michigan job and the Wolverines took the place of the West Virginia Mountaineers on his favorites list. Texas then got kicked to the curb. Tennessee followed when offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe left for Duke.

Then Pryor showed the nation at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl why he is the No. 1 prospect in the nation. He dominated the game winning the MVP for the game as well as the U.S. Army National Player of the Year award.

There is no doubt that he is inundated with phone calls, text messages and visitors.

Pryor, however, can only visit five schools officially. He visited Columbus and the Buckeyes on Nov. 2nd. He is slated to be at Michigan this weekend - he was supposed to be at Penn St but instead is headed to Ann Arbor. That is not a good sign for JoePa.

That leaves three more officials. PSU, Oregon, Florida and maybe even Duke might get a visit. Oregon and Florida are my prediction. He has been to Penn St so many times they may not get an official visit. So that leaves one more visit date.

Who gets it? There is a new player in the Pryor sweepstakes.

Les Miles and the LSU Tigers might end up with one of those visits. The main reason Pryor is interested in Oregon is the style of offense that they run. Gary Crowton was the OC in Eugene and worked with Dennis Dixon. Crowton is now at LSU. They have been supposedly pitching Pryor on the implementation of the zone-read offense in Baton Rouge. Music to young Mr. Pryor's ears.

Will Pryor end up at or even visit LSU? Who knows. All I know is that when a player visits the Bayou, they don't forget it. It is a fabulous place to hang out in and certainly an unforgettable football experience.

The question about LSU is the QB situation. It is the most clogged of all the favorites. The controversial Ryan Perrilloux and young Jarrett Lee both would be ahead of Pryor on the depth chart.

Pryor is on record as stating that playing time is not necessarily the important issue so LSU's depth chart may not matter. Either way, LSU is a very easy sell. Great culture, great football, great women, great weather, defending National Champs and a newly designed offensive system put in place just for him.

It sounds pretty tantalizing to me. The Bayou Bengals may have something to say about this thing before its all said and done.

What about Pittsburgh? In a word, no.

The young Western PA quarterback has developed a friendship and mentor in Pittsburgh Steelers QB Charlie Batch. He was seen with Batch at the Pitt-GTown basketball game recently. Rumors about Pitt's chances at Pryor are unfounded and ridiculous. He is not headed to Pitt. The Stache has done a great job on the recruiting trail, however.

NEWLY UPDATED TERRELLE PRYOR PERCENTAGES:

Mich: 35%
OSU: 35%
Oregon: 10%
Florida: 10%
LSU: 10%
Duke: 0%
Pitt: 0%
PSU: 0%

US Army AA Game Notebook:

Heading into this game I really felt that the offensive skill position players were better on the West team and that the defensive front seven was better on the East team. That was pretty much how the game played out with one exception. No one can stop Terrelle Pryor.

There is no substitute for supreme talent. It was a clean sweep from the top prospect in the nation. He took home not only the win today but also the games' Most Valuable Player and the US Army National Player of the Year award too. It is very easy to see that he is clearly the best player in the nation.

Some random thoughts....

The athleticism was very apparent at the quarterback position for the East team with Pryor, Star Jackson and MarQuies Gray. The West had no answer for the speed at the QB position.

Miami defensive tackle prospect Marcus Fortson was dominate as the East shut down the West ground game. The linebackers were all over the field led by another Miami defender Arthur Brown. There is no way Brown plays in the middle. He was noticeably smaller than guys like Steven Filer and Etiene Sabino. Brown will be a fabulous weakside backer.

The wide receivers for the West were phenomenal. D.J. Shoemate, Dan Buckner, Jameel Owens and particularly Michael Floyd played well. I would have liked to see Shoemate used more out of the back field. I am very high on all four of these kids.

Gerell Robinson is very raw and very good. He is a smart, well-spoken kid that has freakish size and athleticism. He may want to redshirt at Arizona St to learn the subtleties of the wide receiver position. He is gifted enough to play right away though.

Speaking of the Pac-10. The west coast had a great day landing three of the kids announcing on Saturday. Robinson is headed to ASU; Solomon Koehler leaves Hawaii for the desert and Arizona; Covaughn Deboskie chose Cal.

Alabama and Georgia are in a heavyweight bout for the SEC recruiting race. After stealing A.J. Harmon from Clemson, the Bulldogs are making a strong push for not only the SEC crown but maybe the top class in the nation.

With Gray's commitment to Minnesota, Tim Brewster has found a piece to build a future around. The Gophers' class is very strong as the Big Ten doormat has dipped into Texas, Chicago and now Indianapolis to snag a lot of solid prospects.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
AJ Harmon - Georgia
Patrick Johnson - LSU
Shayne Hale - Pitt
MarQuies Gray - Minnesota
Ryan Williams - Va. Tech
Solomon Koehler - Arizona
Gerell Robinson - Arizona St
Covaughn Deboskie - Cal
Brandon Smith - Michigan

Photo by Rivals.com

National Recruiting Blitz: 12.11.07

My weekly recruiting podcast for Athlon Sports is up on the site.

This week I speak with Rick Kimbrel of BruinBlitz.com, the officially licensed site of the Rivals network covering all things UCLA.

I asked him about the coaching search and the status of some of the big names on a really solid class. Aundre Dean, EJ Woods and Derick Coleman's name all came up.

Other topics on the show:

The Pittsburgh Panthers' recent run on the recruiting trail, the Florida Gator's recent wide receiver commits, LSU and Alabama got big time commits and Texas A&M stole one from Oklahoma.

All the decommitments, the Shrine Bowl and the future of Athlon Sports recruiting coverage all came up.

You can check it out on Athlon Sports Podcasts or just click on the link below...

Athlon Sports Recruiting Blitz 12.11.07

Jonathan Baldwin is Pitt's 12th Verbal

Despite never having a winning record in any of his first three seasons as head coach at Pitt, Dave Wannstedt continues to kill on the recruiting trail. With true freshman LeSean McCoy and Pat Bostick looking the part of four-year starters, The Stache added another play-maker to his offense.

6-6, 240 lb Jonathan Baldwin of Aliquippa High (Aliquippa, PA) gave his verbal pledge to Pittsburgh Monday. Wannstedt - ironically born in Baldwin, PA - gets the tight end to commit over other powerhouses like USC, Michigan, Florida, Miami and Notre Dame. How he ranks:

Rivals: #34 overall, #3 tight end
Scout: #138 overall, #11 wide receiver
ESPN: #24 overall, #1 tight end
PrepStar: #38 overall, #3 tight end

Although some people feel that he is a WR prospect, Baldwin should be a tight end. Two reasons. First he is a phenomenal blocker and if The Stache were to move him split out wide, he would lose the in-line blocking ability of this young talent. He has great initial burst off the line generally locking up his assignment. He is a great seal blocker.

Second, Baldwin lacks top end speed and open field elusiveness. His speed and athleticism, for a tight end though, are perfectly adequate.

As a pass catcher is well above average. He has nice ball skills as he is at his strength when the pass is a jump ball. Smaller defensive backs will not out climb Baldwin for the ball. He will be a great red zone target as his leaping ability and timing are solid also.

Wanny has been a huge roll the last week landing commitments from 4-star RB Cameron Saddler (Monroeville, PA), 3-star WR Mike Shanahan (North Hundington, PA), JUCO QB Greg Cross and 3-star QB Zach Stroudt (Dublin, OH). Now if he can learn to coach they might win a game or two.

Photo by Pittsburgh Post Gazette