Earlier this morning, we had a quick look at Chad Voytik and Rushel Shell. Now for the rest ...
It's worth noting that the class may not be finished with a few potential targets still out there. But as the class stands now, how did Pitt fare? With a few late signees, I think the program did pretty well. All in all, I'm giving Chryst a B+. Had Pitt been able to keep a guy like Pankey and landed Demetrious Cox, I'd have gone with an A. But in his first season, Chryst (like Graham did last year) did a pretty admirable job with little time to work with.
Let's start with the bad. Pitt's class wasn't huge and despite the fact that Paul Chryst and company may not have been all that impressed with guys like Corey Jones and Brandyn Cook, I'd still have rather seen what those guys could do. In particular, it would have been nice to hold onto Cook just because Pitt's offensive line was so abysmal at times last year. Then there was the loss of offensive lineman Adam Pankey, which was even worse.
But that said, the pros far outweigh the cons in Chryst's class this year.
There was always one key thing upon which Chryst's success was going to be gauged - his ability to keep Rushel Shell and Chad Voytik. He was able to do that and it's safe to say that that was the most important. But to me, after those two, it was about the guys sitting on the fence ... and Pitt got some good ones in Deaysean Rippy, Bam Bradley, and Terrell Jackson.
No one knows how those guys (or even players like Shell and Voytik, for that matter) will pan out, but Rippy in particular is a guy that could be an absolute monster. Florida cited a lack of space as the reason why they couldn't make room for the four-star linebacker, and their loss is Pitt's gain. This guy reportedly had offers from everyone under the sun including schools like Alabama, Ohio State, Auburn, Tennessee, Nebraska, USC, Penn State, West Virginia, and others. 'Nuff said.
Bradley and Jackson aren't quite as highly touted, but both (Bradley in particular) had some excellent programs offering him. Getting one of these three guys would have been nice and two would have been great. But to get all three is a huge coup.
Besides the newcomers, there's also the guys who had previously committed. Four-star (depending on who you listen to) kids such as offensive lineman Adam Bisnowaty and tight end J.P. Holtz are big time players. You've got to think that if they show up to play, both can play prominent roles in 2013.
Pitt will be losing Hubie Graham after this year and while Drew Carswell will be around, Holtz should have a chance to win the tight end job. Bisnowaty should also get a look on a line that doesn't have very much depth right now. Heck, he could get a look this season as a backup getting time.
That's not to even mention the rest of Pitt's class, which includes mostly three-star players. Or even the two-star kids, offensive lineman Gabe Roberts and linebacker Mike Caprara - both of whom seem to have good upside. The more I've read about both makes me think that they can both play for Pitt despite my initial concerns about Roberts.
Here are individual posts we've had on the class:
Bam Bradley
Trenton Coles
Terrell Jackson
Deaysean Rippy
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