PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett’s numbers are fantastic. Nineteen touchdowns to one interception, but as great as he’s thrown it. As Panthers offensive coordinator Mark Whipple said this week, someone needs to catch it.
Few in college football do it better than Panthers sophomore receiver Jordan Addison.
Addison leads FBS in touchdowns with nine even playing in one fewer game than most. The Frederick, Maryland native is third among Power 5 receivers with 104.8 yards per game. He racks up all of those numbers being only 37th in the nation in catches per game.
“What’s led to my success is just making the plays I’m supposed to make,” Addison said. “My coaches put me in position to do great things. I just make those plays for the team.”
“He's steady, he's fast, he runs great routes,” said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. “He knows what he's doing. He doesn't have to think about what route he's running, how he is converting a route. He knows and he plays fast.”
“He gets open,” said Pitt safety Erick Hallett. “You see on Saturdays he gets open and he scores a lot.”
“Nobody plays like him.”
ACC Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2020, Addison caught 60 passes for 666 yards and four touchdowns in 10 games. The numbers this season-29 receptions, 524 yards, 18.1 average, nine touchdowns.
“I’m not the type of guy to look at stats,” Addison said. “I talk to my brother after every game. He told me the same thing, keep your head down and keep working. Look up at the end.”
Addison’s older brother, Michael (one of five brothers), played safety a Shepherd University. He said the two can relate on a different level and when he tells him to go something in his game, it means a lot. He likely listens more to his brother than others.
They played a lot together in their neighborhood growing up. While Michael could be tough on Jordan, although Jordan says, ‘he can’t guard me’.
College football defenses have a similar issue. Addison is surprised he’s not seeing more double-teams, but expects that to come. He says he’s ready for that.
“You double team me,” Addison said. “You are leaving someone else open or one-on-one. With the weapons that we have, I don’t think you can guard everyone.”
Addison said with how far he’s come, he has a lot of work to do. Narduzzi agrees that he had a couple of drops against Georgia Tech and said he can be a 100% efficiency player.
“I mean, last year he was a true freshman,” Narduzzi said. “We put him in one spot. We just kind of – even though we wanted to move him around. Now we get to move him around a little bit.”
“He's playing with a lot of confidence. We know he is a great player. He knows he's a great player. You’ve got to go out and make great plays.”
If he’s able to continue to make great plays to finish out the month with games against Virginia Tech, Clemson and Miami. Jordan Addison won’t be a Pittsburgh secret for long.