SB Nation - Lucas Nix

Undrafted Free Agent Signings: Pitt Players Not Taken In NFL Draft Finding Homes

CardiacHill — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 03:16:21 -0000

For the first time in 12 years, Pitt did not have a player taken in the NFL Draft. That's disappointing, but many of the team's seniors had already found homes shortly after the conclusion of the final round on Saturday.

The two players widely expected to be drafted, Lucas Nix and Brandon Lindsey, were two of the players to sign with teams the fastest. Lindsey was picked up by the hometown Pittsburgh Steelers and Lucas Nix is headed to join the Oakland Raiders. Other players that found teams shortly after the draft included Chas Alecxih (Miami Dolphins), Max Gruder (Atlanta Falcons), Buddy Jackson (Indianapolis Colts), Antwuan Reed (Cleveland Browns), and Greg Williams (Houston Texans).

The cases of Nix and Jackson were particularly interesting in that they reportedly had offers to join Pittsburgh's camp, but chose to head elsewhere instead. For now, only they know the reason for choosing to turn down those offers, but the Steelers had several opportunities to draft either as they had four picks in the final round.

For more on other Pitt players that may be signed and Pitt football, check out SB Nation blog, Cardiac Hill.

Pitt's Lucas Nix Facing Charges

Adam Bittner — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:50:10 -0000

Pitt offensive lineman Lucas Nix is facing three summary charges related to an alleged Dec. 26 incident in Pleasant Hills, according to criminal complaint.

Nix was not arrested and received the charges in the mail, according to Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who describes the alleged incident this way.

In a nutshell, here is what I can gather about what this is all about - Lucas's brother, Nate, got into some kind of altercation at a house, called Lucas to come help him, Lucas shows up, apparently rips off the screen door or some part of the front door and starts barking for the others to come outside - the police are called, everyone leaves, no punches thrown, nobody hurt - no fighting involved - just some wolfing and jawing among guys who had a few too many pops.

Nix is a senior, so it's not clear whether his discipline will fall under the purview of interim head coach Keith Patterson, leading the Panthers in Saturday's BBVA Compass Bowl, or new head coach Paul Chryst, if he is to face any at all. Certainly a situation worth monitoring.

Pitt Safety Jason Hendricks Out For Season Due To Injury

CardiacHill — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:30:21 -0000

Pitt got more bad news on Monday with the news that safety Jason Hendricks is out for the year with a shoulder injury. Hendricks was the team's starting 'bandit' safety playing in the secondary alongside free safety, Jarred Holley and his absence will force Andrew Taglianetti into that starting spot.

Taglianetti is a solid player and should be able to do a reasonably good job filling in, but where this hurts Pitt is in terms of depth. Taglianetti was the backup to Hendricks and also a backup to Holley. With his move into the starting lineup, Pitt will be forced to use freshman Brandon Ifill as the primary backup in both safety spots.

The injury bug has bitten Pitt all season long, but injuries to starting offensive lineman Lucas Nix and linebacker Todd Thomas in recent weeks have really hurt the team. Backup quarterback Trey Anderson is also battling tendonitis and Mark Myers could be backing up starting quarterback Tino Sunseri this week.

Phil Steele's Preseason All Big East Teams Feature Plenty Of Pitt, West Virginia

CardiacHill — Tue, 31 May 2011 23:23:17 -0000

Phil Steele released his much-anticipated preseason All-Conference teams and both Pitt and West Virginia have plenty of representation in the Big East. In fact, it's safe to say the two teams dominated the league's first team.

15 of the 28 first-teamers were Panthers or Mountaineers. West Virginia clearly led the way with 10 such players including Geno Smith, Tavon Austin, Joe Madsen, Josh Jenkins, Don Barclay, Bruce Irvin, Julian Miller, Najee Goode, Keith Tandy, and Terence Garvin. Pitt's representation included Ray Graham, Cam Saddler, Brandon Lindsey, Max Gruder, and Chris Jacobson.

It didn't stop there, though. Pitt and West Virginia placed several other players on the second, third, and fourth teams.

Pitt had 11 players on those teams including second-teamers Jarred Holley, Lucas Nix, Chas Alexcih, and Greg Williams. I was a bit surprised to see wide receivers Mike Shanahan and Devin Street on the third and fourth teams, respectively. I expect both to have fairly big seasons in Todd Graham's new offense and they could put up big numbers.

The Mountaineers, mostly because of their large amount of players on the first team only had three on the remaining teams - Stedman Bailey, Jeff Braun, and Josh Francis.

Here are the full lists of All-Big East players.