The oddest thing about watching Pitt's spring football drills is the lacking of a few, familiar, rather-large figures.
There is no more Carter Warren. There is no more Marcus Minor. There is no more Owen Drexel. There is no more Gabe Houy. Four prominent, long-lasting figures along Pat Narduzzi and Dave Borbely's offensive line have since graduated, leaving room to shift into the 2023 season.
But, while losing these four veterans, a unique shift is taking place. Pitt's 2023 offensive line is set to not just be another group of veteran players, it has the potential to reign supreme over the group it's replacing.
"It's so weird," guard Blake Zubovic said. "I've been with those guys for five years now. It's absolutely insane, but you kind of take what those guys have taught you, you work with them, and hopefully pass it on. Those guys were great leaders and great players, and I'm really blessed to have gotten to play with them, all those guys. ... You take what you learn from those guys and you move forward. I is a weird feeing not having them around, though. Those are some of my buddies. It's different, for sure."
Zubovic is returning for his final season and will anchor the right guard, while Jake Kradel returns as the elder statesman at center for the Panthers. Kradel began last season as the right guard while Drexel manned center, but was forced into action at center in Week 3 when Drexel was injured against Tennessee in Week 2. Zubovic slid into the right guard role from that point.
Warren missed the entirely of ACC play and the Sun Bowl with a knee injury, and Houy had a nagging Achilles injury which limited him to eight games and five starts. That prompted Branson Taylor and Matt Goncalves into the starting tackle spots, and Goncalves rose as a right tackle in becoming a third-team All-ACC selection.
The intrigue this season is the open left guard position. Minor had that spot anchored all last season and did not miss a game -- save for two snaps at the end of the final regular-season game at Miami -- and his departure leaves the biggest hole along the line.
That could go one of a few ways, but Ryan Baer has moved inside and redshirt senior Ryan Jacoby -- who actually played more snaps at tight end last season -- is there to supplement, leaving Borbely with options.
Baer is the most intriguing player here, as he was the highest-rated recruit in Narduzzi's 2022 class. He played in Pitt's final three regular-season games and preserved a redshirt.
Zubovic said Baer is having a strong camp after his offseason.
"Ryan Baer takes what he's taught by Borbs and applies it," Zubovic said. "He doesn't make the same mistake twice. That's the one thing I think most impresses me about him. He takes coaching really well. He wants to be better, he does the extra work, he's always with us watching extra film, and you can really see, day-by-day, he's getting three percent better like coach Narduzzi says. One little thing every day, and sooner than later he's going to be a really good player for us."
Narduzzi brought in three offensive linemen into his 2023 class as incoming freshmen, each of which were three-star recruits: tackles Ryan Carretta and Ty Ray and guard BJ Williams. They add depth alongside redshirt freshman Isaiah Montgomery; redshirt sophomores Dorien Ford, Trey Anderson, Terrence Moore, Matt Metrosky, and Terrence Enos Jr.; redshirt juniors Matt Altsman and George French II; and redshirt senior Jason Collier Jr.
"I'm just trying to get them to understand that it takes time and you've got to come in and work," Jacoby said. "Nothing happens overnight, and you've just got to stick it out."
MORE FROM THE SOUTH SIDE
• Pitt will scrimmage at Acrisure Stadium Saturday. Narduzzi gave his expectations for the event:
"Get a few plays in there and see what we've got," Narduzzi said after Friday's practice on the South Side. "... I say it all the time, the first point is to come out healthy, but I want to see our guys play. Coaches on the sideline let 'em go, and just find out who the players are in that stadium, I think. I want to see the offense move the ball, and I want to see the defense stop (it). It's one of those. I want to see our deep shots we missed a year ago, I'd like to see us connect on a few of those. We've done that in the first six practices, so we'll go into Acrisure and see if it'll line up that way."
• Ben Sauls was the hero of the Sun Bowl, having made all five of his field goals including the 47-yard game-winner in the final seconds of the game to lift Pitt to a 37-35 win over UCLA. He entered last season in competition with Sam Scarton for the primary place-kicker position, but won the battle in fall camp and didn't relinquish his hold of it.
Sauls is the guy now, and he has a shot at being the best kicker in the ACC this season. He has used the analogy of having a "golf bag" of kicks of turn to at any given moment, and he spoke more on Friday about his evolution as a place-kicker with more golf analogies.
He said his handicap is in the neighborhood is in the neighborhood of 6 or 7, and his favorite courses among the Pittsburgh area are Cranberry Highlands and Quicksilver Golf Club.
I asked Sauls if he carries over kicking analogies into his golf game.
"I do. It's all ball contact, consistency, and persistency," Sauls said. "Repetition, and it's that same form over and over again. one for one, one for one, one for one. That mindset carries over to both sports."
So, if one want to get better on the links, maybe try kicking a football?
