It is hot in Champaign today. The temperature says 88 degrees but it's really humid and just kind of muggy. As of 11:32 a.m., the heat index was 100 degrees. The boys were on the turf today but weren't in full pads. A few of us media members were joking beforehand that Bret Bielema probably would have enjoyed doing the scrimmage today with the extreme heat just to push the limits. Anyway, here are my notes on the wide receivers - a group that I hadn't spent a whole bunch of time watching until today.
- Wide receivers
- Dalevon Campbell has been praised a few times by different coaches in training camp. He looks more refined in his technique and his route running seems to have improved in the last year or so. He's really big and could potentially be a good redzone target for Peters in the right situation. I think his development, like many in the room, is a little bit of a question mark, but if he can become a reliable target in jump-ball scenarios and kind of a safety blanket in general he could be a key asset for the offense.
- Isaiah Williams was going through drills at the top of the line with Donny Navarro, but I'm not paying too much attention to the order in which guys are going through drills because it seems to kind of be a hodgepodge at different positions. Still, Williams looks to be getting comfortable at WR. He didn't have a drop in our viewing period today. His route running could still improve a little bit. He doesn't yet have that hard plant and go, so he more or less rounds his routes off a little bit. He is really. fast, so he might be able to get away with it against less athletic players.
- Donny Navarro is really technical. Of all the WRs I feel like Navarro is the most "sure thing" of the group, meaning I think you know what you are going to get with him. He's a good leader, has a good understanding of the game and the schemes. He isn't the most talented WR, but he is arguably the most technically sound of any of them, and that matters a lot.
- Khmari Thompson had a bad drop on a ball that was slightly over his head. It hit both of his hands, so he 100 percent should have caught it. Drops are his biggest problem. He is fast and has some good size and strength. How well he catches the football could have a big impact on how well he plays this season. Doug labeled Thompson as a potential breakout guy this season, I can see it but I need to see him prove he can catch the ball before I put some real expectations on him.
- I'm really interested in Jafar Armstrong. He brings an all-purpose back-like player to the room. He's got some good bulk and good speed, which makes him a difficult matchup for some players. I just don't know how he is going to be used. He has the ability to be outside, but I also think he could play in the slot and maybe even get handoffs on jet sweeps and end-arounds. If I were Tony Petersen I would move him around a lot and make it difficult for defenses to scheme against him.
- Casey Washington went through drills last, but again, I'm not putting much stock into the order in which the players go through drills. Washington has received some praise from the coaching staff and Bielema said Washington has had a nice touchdown catch earlier in camp. If Navarro is the safest bet of the wide receivers, Washington might be the second safest. He has some good traits of an outside threat and if he can get open and catch a few balls a game for some decent average he could become really important for the passing game.
- Okay, time for the most important guy in the room: Brian Hightower. Hightower is a former top-200 recruit and he needs to be good for this group to be better than we may have originally thought it could be. He has the physical traits and he has the talent, but he needs to put it all together for the passing game to really excel this season. Hightower said on Monday that the staff has really been on him to be perfect. The reason for that is because he needs to be one of the two best WRs for this offense to be good in the air. How well he puts it together might define how good this passing offense is this season.
