For what it's worth I will give you a Pitt fan's perspective on Pitt's team this year.
Offense
The line lost 2 starters to the NFL, but gained a starter (from the prior season) back from injury. The best o-lineman from last season is returning in Brian O'Neil who leads the nation among returning players in pass blocking efficiency. The depth is such that it's possible multi-year starter Alex Bookser could get pushed to the bench. There may be some drop off in the line, but there shouldn't be much.
At running back, we lost the team's emotional leader in James Conner. But he was only at about 60% or so for the PSU game last year according to him. He really didn't regain his form until fairly late in the season. Qadree Ollison stepped in after Conner's injury in 2015 and had a great year, being named the ACC Rookie of the Year. He was understandably pushed to a backup role last year with Conner's return, but he leads a fairly talented group back this year.
At WR, Jester Weah was second in the nation in yards per catch last season (first among returning players). Quadree Henderson is a returning All-America in the slot. Looking for one of the younger receivers to step up in the third spot, which was Tre Tipton, but Tipton was lost for the season during camp with a torn ACL. So one of the other younger WRs will need to step up.
At quarterback, much will depend on how grad transfer Max Browne performs. Reports from camp is that his arm and mobility look good, but more importantly his decision-making has been very good. Read that as not turning the ball over. Peterman gave the offense consistent play with very few turnovers last season, and Pitt will need that out of Browne this year. There is virtually no experience behind Browne, so if he falters (or God forbid gets injured) it could be a long season.
I felt that Pitt's most versatile player (and most valuable in the red zone) last season was fullback George Aston. It is unclear how/whether Shawn Watson, Pitt's new OC, plans to use the fullback in his offense, but Aston won't be a part of it as it looks like he is out long term with injury. Aston was a devastating blocker and capable receiver, and I think his loss is significant.
In total, the offense will probably be just as good as the quarterback play. If they get solid play from Browne, this should be a pretty good offense. OC Watson has a number of weapons to utilize (I haven't even mentioned Chris Clark who brings an enormous skill set to the TE position) and should benefit from a solid O line. Feeling pretty good about this group.
Defense
No other way to say it, a group that was not very good last year has been decimated by graduation, injuries, and disciplinary action.
On the D-Line, Pitt's best interior lineman - by far - last season was Tyrique Jarrett. He was huge and commanded double-teams, clogging the interior. Pitt was a different run defense in the games he missed. The best returning interior lineman was going to be Jeremiah Taleni, but Taleni was booted from the team for disciplinary reasons. Amir Watts is the only returning player with any starts under his belt (he started against Clemson as a true frosh and performed admirably). Lot's of inexperience in this group, which includes Kam Carter (commence side posts on Carter).
At DE, Juan Price was the only lineman who consistently was able to put pressure on opposing passers, although his production tailed off towards the second half of the season. In any case, he's gone to graduation. Rori Blair started most games at DE over last 2 seasons, but he was thrown off the team for disciplinary reasons, too. To be honest, Blair's play was wildly inconsistent and I don't think he is a great loss. If Dewayne Hendrix can come back fully from injury (he was lost for the season in our first game last year), he and Allen Edwards should be a wash in comparison to last year's DEs.
The linebacker situation is interesting. Pitt had lost their starting OLB in the first game of the season last year and he is now back. So, although they lost 2 starting LBs from last year, they really only lost one. And the two starters they lost, Caprara and Galambos, had kept their spots over younger, faster and more athletic players due mainly to experience. This year's LBs will not be nearly as experienced or deep as last year, but they should be much faster and more athletic. We'll have to see how that translates in schemes and on-field play.
The defensive secondary...... Um. OK, I guess I should say something. First, the obvious - our secondary play was horrid last year. In fact, Pitt's run defense was statistically good last year, I think due to the fact that most teams didn't bother to run against us. Our safeties made a ton of bad reads and failed to support over the top. The corners gave up way too large of cushions to the WRs and even when they were in position, none of them turned their heads around to make a play on the ball. It also didn't help that our corners were very short, and had problems matching up against taller WRs. Pitt has an infusion of younger, taller DBs who specialize in "press" coverage (Narduzzi's preferred approach), but they may be a year away from ACC ready. We'll see. Likewise, there is a good bit of young talent at the safety spot. The most talented returning starter, by far, is Jordan Whitehead. Whitehead is suspended for the first 3 games (including PSU). Even though he was as guilty as anyone else in that secondary for being out of position last year, his suspension is a very big loss to that defense. End result is that a relatively inexperienced group will be put to the test. But honestly, I really don't think the secondary play could be any worse than it was last year.
Much like how the offense boils down to QB play, the defense boils down to the secondary. If the younger players can step up the play, we could see an improvement in the overall defense. This should be a faster defense, but they are probably a year away from being a solid defense.
