Some excerpts from the article ...
He hasn't been a play maker so far, IMO.Pittman’s real job is ... to catch quarterbacks. So far, that’s proving to be just about as difficult as hanging onto a long spiral in practice.
2 sacks in 7 games.The Pensacola, Fla., native, who should have pretty good hands given his passion for drumming, is well aware of the rush end legacy with the Lions — from Quick Parker, a CFL-record 26.5 sacks in 1984, to Cam Wake, who rushed off to the NFL after 39 quarterback gotchas in two seasons, to Rickey Foley, now in the camp of the Seattle Seahawks. And he knows his two sacks in seven games isn’t measuring up. Not yet.
He sounds like a project, with great athletic talent. Meanwhile Brent Hawkins came out of the package ready to go, making plays.“I feel I can come with a lot more, can bring more to the table once I learn the mind game of setting the O-lineman up,” says Pittman, who starred at NCAA Division II North Alabama University. “That’s what I’m still learning how to do. I never had that. I just beat guys off my athletic ability in college. But here, everybody’s good.
“The second half [of the season] I’m going to do a lot better.”
Yes, quite a legacy. Wilson, Wake and Foley.B.C. has led the league in sacks four consecutive seasons, averaging a whopping 63 a year from 2006-2008 when the likes of Johnson, Chris Wilson and Wake were running wild. Imports Wilson (Washington Redskins) and Wake (Miami Dolphins) parlayed their spectacular play into NFL contracts, while the Canadian Foley is hoping to do the same.
Funny how Wally is ultra patient with some guys, but not others. Pittman is "a young guy," he says. Well so were Wake and Wilson and Foley young guys. They were ready to go, out of the box.“[Pittman] is a young guy who plays a very difficult position,” says head coach Wally Buono. “The position is as much a cerebral process as it is a physical process. He’s got the attributes that it’s going to take — he’s long, he runs fast, he’s powerful. But it takes time.
Of all the positions on the field, I can't quite agree that rush end is a cerebral position. QB is. Offensive line is. Running back is not. I wouldn't think rush end is.
IMO he has been different so far. Those guys IMO were play makers, from the get go. Not projects.“He’s no different than the Chris Wilsons, the Cam Wakes and the Rickey Foleys. They were not what you would call instant balls on fire as far as production. Guys like him, the second half of the season is where they really start to blossom.” - Wally Buono
Brown looks like a good pickup.“He showed me how to pick out a spot when I’m pass rushing. I’ve never done that before. Find a spot and try to beat the O-lineman to that spot. If he meets me there, then I can make an inside move or whatever move I want to make, but if he don’t beat me there, I’m going to keep going.”
