Pitt's speedy receiver Addison an even faster learner

Jordan Addison has been the biggest bright spot next to Kenny Pickett in Pitt's offense. He's also a bright spot in the country with 38 catches, the most in the ACC and sixth most in the country, and 444 receiving yards, third most in the ACC and 12th most in the country.

And he's doing all that as a true freshman, which landed him on the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America watch list along with Pitt defensive tackle Calijah Kancey:

Addison has several tools at his disposal, beating defenders with straight line speed, exceptional explosiveness and applying impressive route running and a high football IQ in his first six games. Part of that football IQ is what his wide receiver coach, Chris Beatty, says makes him one of the best receivers he's coached.

"His ability to process is far superior than most players I've coached," Beatty said Tuesday. "I've had Tavon Austin as West Virginia, who was super talented. But he was not as far along mentally as Jordan is right now. Tavon did other things that were tremendous but he didn't process defenses like Jordan does. He makes mistakes here and there but he can sit back and see the safeties rock one way or another and understand how the coverage is rotating."

Austin was once one of the best receivers in college football and was selected by the Rams with the eighth overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, so that's high praise for Addison to get mentioned in the same sentence as him.

Understanding opposing defenses can be one of the biggest challenges for receivers making the jump from high school to college. Several receivers struggle to understand the full extent of their own route trees and playbook or how to maximize different routes without even considering the defense. But Beatty says Addison integrates his understanding of the game in several ways.

"He understands how to sit in a zone when some people run through it," Beatty continued. "Those things are special whereas other people would take some time to process those things on the run. His ability to transfer things from the classroom to the field are as good as anyone I've coached."

Here's an example of that where Addison comes out of the slot and runs a 4-yard hook underneath zone coverage. As soon as he catches the ball he turns and attacks the space between the zone forcing a missed tackle and getting 12 yards out of an extremely short pass:

"He's very sudden as a player," Beatty said of Addison. "He's got quickness and great change of direction and soft hands. Those things are rare. He can make people miss and run by you with great speed and initial burst. But the biggest thing is he's so humble and down to earth. He hasn't changed since practice one of Spring ball or when I started to recruit him three years ago. Anything you tell him something he transfers it to the field. He's not a rep guy. You tell him one time and he gets it right."

On a team that had Taysir Mack at receiver catch the game winning catch in last year's Quicken Lane Bowl for Pitt, Pat Narduzzi says Addison not only has distinguished himself as a starter, but as the team's go-to receiver.

"Isn't he already a go-to receiver?," Narduzzi responded on Monday when asked if Addison could become the team's go-to receiver. "Sometimes you can target them without four DBs covering him. Seems like a lot of time in that game they weren't pressing him. They pressed everybody else except Jordan as the game went on for whatever reason. Jordan is a go-to guy right now. We'll continue to try to get him the ball without wearing him out either."

Addison was close to being a defensive back for Pitt's next opponent, Notre Dame at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Heinz Field, when they gave him an offer last year. But Addison chose Pitt instead, and Beatty says part of that was the fact he's been working to recruit Addison for years, even in Beatty's days as a co-offensive coordinator and receiver coach at Maryland.

"I've been recruiting him for a couple years even trying to get him into another institution before I got here," Beatty said of Addison. "I did think he had a chance to come in play early, and to be honest, to start. That's not that much of a surprise to me but nobody expected him to come in and be among the leaders in receptions in the country."

Addison does several things very well, starting with his explosiveness out of his stance and into different cuts of his routes. Explosiveness to get off the ball is one thing, but maintaining and controlling that explosiveness to complete a route with different moves is another. Look at how much separation Addison gets on this out route for an easy target for Joey Yellen:

And with all that success, Addison still seems hungry to get better and stay focused on what he needs to do in practice. Even while among the country's leading receivers, Narduzzi says Addison has remained humble.

"He's just a special kid," Narduzzi said of Addison. "He's humble. You never see that guy get too high or get too low. He stays the same, even keel. Very similar to what Joey Yellen is. That guy is like this. He can turn the ball over, he's going to come right back and go. Jordan is the same way."

And make no mistake, Addison isn't just a route runner. He will burn a defense if left alone and make people miss in the open field. Watch how he gets behind the defense on this deep ball from Yellen. It's not just the speed, but his ability to maintain that speed while slowing up enough to come back for the underthrow by Yellen. Then as he catches the ball he still has the wherewithal to duck the tackle from the defender and max out the play for 55 yards:

It's obvious on the field that Addison truly is a special young player that can make a difference for Pitt. But if what Beatty and Narduzzi are saying about Addison's work ethic and ability to understand in the classroom are true, Pitt could may have its next major receiver already in the program.

And that's evident from Addison's 147-yard performance against Miami on Saturday, the highest amount of receiving yards by a Pitt freshman since Tyler Boyd put up 173 yards against Bowling Green in the 2013 Little Caesar's Bowl.

We'll get to see him up against the biggest defensive test he's faced this Saturday against Notre Dame, whose 11.1 points allowed per game is the best in the ACC and its 193.3 passing yards allowed per game is second best only behind Clemson.