Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Earlier, Jim mentioned a new Pitt commit in running back Todd Sibley. The Panthers also added a second recruit on Wednesday in offensive lineman Owen Drexel.
Drexel, out of New Jersey, reportedly chose the Panthers over Rutgers and several lower-tier offers. Boston College hadn’t yet formally but they appeared to be in the mix as well.
His ratings are a bit cloudy at the moment. Several outlets are reporting he is a three-star recruit, but Rivals and ESPN both have him unrated, Scout has him as a 2-star player, and 247’s cumulative rating on him is a 2-star. Drexel gives the Panthers some needed depth on the line since he’s the first commit of the 2017 class at that position.
There’s been a lot of talk about satellite camps recently with the NCAA ruling that they were no longer allowed … and then allowed again. Drexel was seen by Pitt’s coaches at a satellite camp recently where they really started to go after him. He also visited the city and talked about going through drills with John Peterson, the offensive line coach.
Oh yeah, there was throw up involved, too.
However, what really sold Drexel was his interaction with Pittsburgh offensive line coach John Peterson during the camp.
“He kicked my butt, which was nice” Drexel said. “We ran like 100 drills and I think I puked a little. It was great. After the camp, we sat down and ran through some drills (on tape). They run a lot of power and a lot of zone.”
As for position, he expects to play center:
“First, I’ll start out at center, and then guard. But I’ll more likely play center than guard,” he said. “I kind of describe (the offense) as like kind of power, like tough inside zone and power.”
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