Pitt has a number of players from its recruiting class who will likely make an impact this season. Most of them were highly rated prospects coming out of high school.

The biggest impact by a newcomer, however, might be made by a player who was one of the most heralded in his class, but isn't really a newcomer at all.

West Allegheny graduate Dorin Dickerson is entering his junior season with the Panthers but his first as a tight end. It appears as if he has finally found a position to call home.

More importantly, he is ready to become the high-impact player that Pitt coaches hoped he would be when they won an intense recruiting battle for him in 2006.

"I love it," Dickerson said about playing tight end. "I love it, I feel like a new player. I feel like if you have the right attitude, learning a position is easy and while this is a grind -- you have to learn so much to play tight end -- it is a lot of fun. Now I just want to go out there and help this team get some W's."

Dickerson, who is 6 feet 2 and 230 pounds, had offers from just about every major Division I program in the country, including schools such as Tennessee and Southern California. He was ranked by Rivals.com as the fifth best player in Pennsylvania.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt convinced Dickerson to sign on with the Panthers and even talked about building an offense around him. But Dickerson injured an ankle in training camp his first season, never fully recovered and played sparingly as he bounced from receiver to running back.

In the spring of 2007, he was moved to linebacker and despite showing some promise, never seemed to fully adapt to that position -- it was his first time playing it -- and by the end of last season was buried on the depth chart.

Dickerson and Wannstedt sat down in the offseason and decided that the best place to get him on the field, and utilize his enormous potential, was tight end.

Dickerson said the fact Wannstedt never lost faith in him helped make the transition to another position much easier. And he said that playing the tight end position the way he is being asked -- he'll also line up sometimes as an H-back or even a fullback -- means he'll have plenty of opportunities to make plays.

"Coach stuck with me, he didn't forget about me, that means a lot to me," Dickerson said. "Some people say they'll believe in you and they don't mean it, but coach proved when he says something he means it and so I knew he was being genuine when he said he wanted to help me get on the field.

"The more I have learned about this position, the more fun it has become. People ask me what I am, I proudly say now 'I am a tight end.'"

One of the knocks on Dickerson was that he wasn't physical enough to play linebacker. Those began to rise in the spring when he moved to tight end.

Dickerson put most of that talk to an end in the spring when he showed he wasn't afraid to block defensive linemen. Any remaining doubters, however, likely would have been silenced Saturday in the scrimmage had his doubters watched two plays.

On one, he caught a pass inside the 5-yard line then barrelled over cornerback Jovani Chappel into the end zone. On another play, he threw a devastating block on a linebacker after a receiver caught a short pass.

"I have no idea where this 'He's not physical' stuff started," Dickerson said. "But I have always been a physical player, I love the rough stuff, the hitting, the collisions -- I don't shy from that stuff. I love blocking, in fact, sometimes a great block feels as good as catching a touchdown pass."

Wannstedt said anyone who questions Dickerson's toughness or ability to be a physical player hasn't been watching. He referred to Dickerson as a "tough guy" and said there is no question that he will be a major part of Pitt's offense.

"In my mind, Dorin is a starter and he's going to get as many touches as anybody," Wannstedt said. "He's one of the stronger and faster players we have on the team. We look at all three of our tight ends as starters, but Dorin brings a little more to the table with his athletic ability.

"His versatility is also valuable to us. He's strong and he's developing as a blocker."

NOTES -- Redshirt freshman Greg Gaskins moved ahead of redshirt freshman Jordan Gibbs for the second-team left tackle spot. "Jordan has been too inconsistent and he knows that," Wannstedt said last night of Gibbs, who began camp as the starter before he lost his job to redshirt sophomore Jason Pinkston. ... After watching the tape from Saturday's scrimmage, Wannstedt said the thing that stood out was "the quarterback play was very impressive." He said he won't likely name the backup quarterback until game day but the battle is between Kevan Smith and Pat Bostick. ... Pitt's offense went 91 plays Saturday without a turnover.