Panther Talk: Predicting Impact Freshmen

New year means a new crop of Freshmen! Recruiting season is fun and stressful for everyone involved; sometimes us fans get a little too attached to coulda/shoulda/woulda's and ratings of high school kids. That's an article for another time though. As we roll out all our predictions for the upcoming season we can't ignore the new talent coming in! Looking at the full incoming class, we're underwhelmed to say the least. We believe that there are a lot of future contributors in this 2019 class, but few that stick out as immediate contributors. Hopefully by their junior and senior seasons they surprise us by being Narduzzi's best class, but we hope that every year. With the new redshirt rule being implemented in 2018, many of these guys will get looks on special teams or even surprising impacts i.e. V'Lique Carter against Duke, many will get around 4 games to show off what they got. So here are our initial picks to make an immediate impact come August 31st:

Kyi Wright - TE/OLB, 6-3 245

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Listed as an OLB coming out of high school, it seems like Coach Salem and the staff convinced Wright to move to TE coming into 2019. And who could resist? Playing TE is literally the quickest way to seeing the field in a Pitt uniform. Athletes always get their measureables bumped up a bit, but if he is coming into camp anywhere near what he's listed at, size-wise, he has a chance to make a nice impact on the offensive side of the ball. If he can grasp the offense quick, it's easy to imagine him playing enough to burn the redshirt.

Bryce Nelms - DE, 6-5 255

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Filling another thin position, Nelms is in a prime position to show off some skills at defensive end. Granted, unlike the TE depth, the DE's are locked down by two very good players already, but the youth behind them is unproven. Narduzzi, Bates, and Co. will be looking closely for the next men up. Nelms is coming in at a stout 6-5 255 and will only get bigger, making him one of the underrated players in this class. Watching and learning from Weaver could accelerate Nelms' growth big time.

Honorable Mention: Daniel Carter- RB, 5-10 220

Probably the most talented incoming player, but he is at a position that has a lot of talent in front of him with Davis, Sibley, Carter, and Salahuddin. Given the depth in front of him, we expect him to redshirt in his first season at Pitt.

Those are our choices, but it's a good-sized class, so let us now which incoming freshman you think can make a real impact in year 1. Not all of them can redshirt after all.

- Aaron and Ryan, TGYK