Pitt WR Jon Baldwin leaving for NFL (1 Viewer)

[Steed]

Pitt junior receiver Jon Baldwin has told Chris Steuber of NFLDraftScout.Com via text message that he was going to declare for the NFL draft.

The move is not a surprise as Baldwin has made it fairly clear to some of his teammates and others around the program that he was likely to forgo his senior season and head to the NFL draft.

However, the exchange of text messages apparently took place in the aftermath of the news that Dave Wannstedt was out as Pitt's head coach and Baldwin took some shots at both quarterback Tino Sunseri and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti on his way out the door.

Here is what Steuber wrote about the exchange he had with Baldwin:

"Reached through text message Tuesday evening and asked if it was safe to say he would forgo his senior year with Wannstedt stepping down, Baldwin responded, "No, it's not safe to say that. It doesn't change my quarterback!"

At first, it sounded as if Baldwin was non-committal on his future, but when asked, "Why would you stay [for your senior season] when you have no chemistry with QB Tino Sunseri, a new coach/system taking over next season and possibly hurt your draft stock for the 2012 draft, Baldwin clarified, "Oh, I misunderstood you . . . Heck yeah I'm leaving. It can only get worse. They had me running a lot of deep routes [this year] and yards were hard to come by. I barely ran intermediate routes; it felt like they were purposely trying to disrupt my draft stock."

Baldwin, 6 feet 5, 230 pounds, is the No. 6 rated receiver according to NFLDraftScout.com.

He was not immediately available for comment and a spokesman for Pitt said he is not likely going to be made available to comment today.

Baldwin is one of several Pitt players who went high tech to express their feelings about Wannstedt's ouster, as several players used Twitter and Facebook to express their disappointment.

Senior offensive lineman Jason Pinkston sent this Twitter message out shortly after he heard the news that Wannstedt was gone and it captured the general sentiment of just about all of the players who went the social networking site route to voice their frustrations.

Pinkston wrote, "These people don't know they made the biggest mistake ever letting OUR coach go. He's more than just a coach, he's a father to 96 kids on the team. We came from many different backgrounds. Some of us wouldn't be in college or have the chance to experience college football. We have players on our team who have been turned down at other D1 schools and he took them in and made them family. Thank you coach for everything. You've done so much for me and my family. I would never of had this chance if it weren't for you. I know my mother greatly appreciates what you have done for us. He didn't deserve this from a guy who only came and switched us from ADIDAS to NIKE. Thank you, God bless, hail to Pitt and coach "Wann" and his family."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10342/11091...m#ixzz17XbLB78S

 

[FavreCo]

What an idiot. Hasn't even made it to the NFL and he is tossing people under the bus.

 

[Sweet Love]

If you replaced this with a top-rated LT who threw his Center and O-line coach under the bus to declare early (with the same tone of the texts) and I would not have believed you. It is good though...with Burress out and Moss on his way out (and in a couple of years to be followed by some other mouthy WRs), I think we actually needed at least one more prima donna WR...

 

[bengalbuck]

It almost seems like the slightly off prima donna WRs (Dez Bryant, Kenny Britt, etc.) seem to end up being better players than their more down to earth competitors. Plus, half the other top WRs this year probably fall into a similar category.

 

[Godsbrother]

I don't like Baldwin tweeting like that but I seem to be one of the few in Pittsburgh (other than his players) that think letting Wannstedt go was a mistake.

Hopefully I am wrong and the next guy will have more success but I think Wanny was good for Pitt and deserved another season at least.

 

[fruity pebbles]

He obviously feels like going to Pitt cost him alot of money.

 

[The Real Hipster Doofus]

I don't like Baldwin tweeting like that but I seem to be one of the few in Pittsburgh (other than his players) that think letting Wannstedt go was a mistake. Hopefully I am wrong and the next guy will have more success but I think Wanny was good for Pitt and deserved another season at least.

I think it was a case of Pitt thinking they are bigger than they really are. Similar to Minnesota with Dan Mason, and Texas Tech with (thinking they can just get whoever and be better after). Pitt is not the program that is once was, and I really think there is a good chance they get much worse before they get much better. That Pitt QB was god awful though. Not sure how you manage to have that as your best option, but that really killed them.

 

[Sudsy]

It almost seems like the slightly off prima donna WRs (Dez Bryant, Kenny Britt, etc.) seem to end up being better players than their more down to earth competitors. Plus, half the other top WRs this year probably fall into a similar category.

Well I might prefer Jennings or Driver or Fitzgerald, or Welker. I guess we could do a study on the matter but ranking them as prima donnas or not might be difficult. Taking a quick look at fantasy rankings this year i would surmise that your statement is incorrect. Perhaps this year is an anomaly.

 

[CrossEyed]

Dave's players love him. To Wannstedt those kids were more than just about football. Unfortunately with college football being about so much money, the only thing that matters to the ADs and presidents are the wins and losses. And in that respect he failed to deliver.

 

[bulger2holt]

He would look good in a Rams uni.

 

[brewer]

I don't like Baldwin tweeting like that but I seem to be one of the few in Pittsburgh (other than his players) that think letting Wannstedt go was a mistake. Hopefully I am wrong and the next guy will have more success but I think Wanny was good for Pitt and deserved another season at least.

Wanny is a great guy, excellent recruiter, Pitt through and through.... but he is a terrible game coach. Losing by 25+ points, two times, at home(once to your biggest hated rival), in a season where your team entered the year ranked in the top 20, is simply unacceptable.Will they find a 'better' coach? Well that is certainly debatable, but the WVU game sealed his fate. The team appeared to give up in the second half of that one.

 

[TommyGilmore]

He should change his name to Jon Paul Jones.

 

[Raider Nation]

LOL @ Steuber having to spell out what "safe to say" means.

 

[Q-Bert]

LOL @ Steuber having to spell out what "safe to say" means.

I don't think it was the 'safe to say' part that he misunderstood. I think it was the 'forgo' part.

 

[Koya]

It almost seems like the slightly off prima donna WRs (Dez Bryant, Kenny Britt, etc.) seem to end up being better players than their more down to earth competitors. Plus, half the other top WRs this year probably fall into a similar category.

Well I might prefer Jennings or Driver or Fitzgerald, or Welker. I guess we could do a study on the matter but ranking them as prima donnas or not might be difficult. Taking a quick look at fantasy rankings this year i would surmise that your statement is incorrect. Perhaps this year is an anomaly.

Jerry RiceSteve Largent

Marv Harrison (maybe a bad guy, but never a prima donna)

Andre Johnson

Isaac Bruce

Tim Brown

Cris Carter (did a lot better when he stopped being a prima donna)

Reggie Wayne

Doesnt look anomalous to me.

 

[domvin]

Well, his comments have some truth to them. Is he Young-yes. Immature, yes. But not too terribly bad.

Sunseri looked awful in games I watched. Still need towatch the UC and WVU game I DVR'ed on Baldwin to get a better guage for him.