Some interesting Pitt football news broke on Monday night regarding Dan Mason and Arthur Doakes. Per the Trib-Review, both players are no longer with the team for different reasons.
Mason is not on the roster after some apparent off-field issues kept him out of spring practices. Meanwhile, Doakes has transferred from the program to Stony Brook. Doakes, you might remember, was suspended for the BBVA Compass Bowl game (which, you know, he could have actually considered a blessing...but I digress).
The losses are fairly significant but not total game-changers to me. There's no guarantee either would have started, but both could have provided depth at linebacker and offensive lineman. Without Mason, Pitt really needs a health Shane Gordon (Gordon was out with a neck injury in the spring). If he's not, the team will be relying on some inexperienced players at middle linebacker.
The loss of Doakes hurts, too, but at least Pitt has been building up some more depth there. Two things that help are that T.J. Clemmings was converted to offensive tackle and the team gets back Juantez Hollins there, too, after his suspension in 2013. It'd be nice to have Doakes, but Pitt should be okay there if the other guys stay healthy.
Back to Mason, though - just a sad situation after he fought back from the horrific injury in the Miami game a few years ago and suffered another season-ending one last year.
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