Well, as much as a 16-year old kid can commit to a school, anyway.
I don't doubt the commitment, but with Kincade still about three years away from even suiting up for Pitt, it's obvious that this is a borderline soft verbal. The good thing for Pitt? He's a local kid and that's been high on the Panthers, so that has to count for something.
I'm not sure which is more disturbing - that 16-year old kids are able to commit to a program or that you can watch Kincade breaking down defenses on YouTube ... in eighth grade.
Yep, somehow we got to a point where both happen with great regularity.
Pitt was the first and only FBS on record for offering him a scholarship already, though Penn State and Ohio State have been sniffing around, reportedly. But with Pitt making the offer, he and his high school coach called Todd Graham (Insider article) on Wednesday to accept.
One thing that Graham is banking on is the mobility of Kincade - even though he's not necessarily shown off that skill so far in high school:
Kincade, 6-foot-5, 218 pounds, missed part of Blackhawk's season with a shoulder injury, but he completed 40 of 68 passes for 547 yards and three touchdowns in five games. Hamilton said Kincade is athletic enough to run, but that wasn't part of Blackhawk's offensive game plan.
"We didn't allow him to run very much," Hamilton said. "We only had one quarterback."
"I've never been a running quarterback," Kincade said. "I've always been a passing quarterback, but I can run."
So, just how good is he right now? This is clearly a move built on potential.
Rivals pegs him as a three-star recruit while Scout doesn't rank him yet. Plus, the fact that he hadn't even received any minor offers other than Pitt's, shows he's still a bit of an unknown.Then there's the issue of QB Chad Voytik, who will be coming in next season. Kincade doesn't see that as a factor:
Kincade wasn't scared away from the fact that Pitt also has a commitment from a highly-touted senior quarterback – Chad Voytik of Cleveland, Tenn.
"Honestly, I didn't consider his choice in mine," Kincade said. "From what I've seen and heard, he's a great quarterback. But I'm willing to compete with anyone, so I'm not really worried about it."
The Voytik thing is really a non-factor for me. With Pitt's quarterback play being spotty this season, there's a real chance for Voytik to play at least a bit next year if he's competent. If Trey Anderson, who was a walk-on and late enrollee coming in this Summer, can play right away then I have a hard problem believing Voytik can't if the QBs struggle again.
If that does happen and if Kincade redshirts, there's the possibility of only a one-year overlap between the two.