Chris Wuestner to transfer from Pitt

Pitt's football team is getting ready to finish up camp, but the Panthers just learned they'll be losing a player as wide receiver Chris Wuestner is transferring out of the program. Here's a statement from head coach Pat Narduzzi:

Chris Wuestner, one of our seniors, has decided to transfer. He wants to play more. We totally understand; as a senior, he has been through a lot in five years. We granted him that opportunity. We think it's important for him to feel it out and reach his dream of playing more wide receiver. He's a guy that looked like he was going to play a lot of special teams for us. We wish him luck in his future endeavors."

Also, for what it's worth, Pitt is going to be pretty flexible with what he wants to do and where he wants to go:

We'll help him wherever he wants to go. We don't have an idea right now but he graduated, got his degree from Pitt, which is a great thing. He can go just about any place he wants to."

Wuester wanting to play more isn't a huge surprise. With the Panthers having so many options at wideout, it didn't appear as if he was going to be on the field a ton outside of special teams. He has only two career catches in his three active seasons at Pitt. He missed all of last year with an injury, but safe to say, he has been used pretty sparingly here.

Of course Wuestner leaving this close to the season starting is what is a little odd. He could have probably seen the writing on the wall pretty early - particularly after the team brought in a few receivers in this year's recruiting class. Making the decision earlier could have prepared him to set himself up a bit sooner. But it's also possible that he really likes the school and had a hard time making the decision to leave.

He's able to transfer and play immediately given that he's already graduated. One thing of note is that, perhaps Wuester will get a sixth year of eligibility since he missed all last year with an internal injury. Maybe he can get another season and that makes the transfer make even more sense.

In terms of Pitt, this doesn't really hurt the program that much in terms of wide receiver. The team is very deep there and have plenty of guys that can pick up the slack. But it goes without saying that hopefully Wuestner finds a program with more opportunity.

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