Illinois held its first practice of camp on Friday from 10 a.m. to approximately 12:30. Shorts, t-shirts, and helmets. Typical script. Walk-thrus, warm-ups, position drills, 7v7, and quite a bit of 11 on 11.
Illinois announced the addition of Western Michigan transfer RB Chase Brown prior to practice. He's the twin brother of safety Sydney Brown.
Out for final exams: OL Vederian Lowe, OL Jake Cerney, OL Kievan Myers, S Stanely Green. Joseph Thompson, James Knight, and Dylan Wyatt sat out with injuries.
OFFENSE
Standouts were Trevon Sidney and Kendrick Green.
You can tell OC Rod Smith likes this group of quarterbacks. Brandon Peters, Isaiah Williams, Matt Robinson, and Coran Taylor all have some good traits.
Peters has a good presence in the pocket. It's obvious he's had a lot of reps in a pro style system. His arm strength is very good. I thought he struggled some with his accuracy early in the practice, but improved with more reps. That's something to watch. He was behind receivers a few times. Good athlete who will pick up yards with his feet when he has to scramble, but you likely won't see him running the read option. He had one scramble down the sideline where he showed surprising speed.
Coran Taylor looked very good throwing the ball in passing drills. Much improved mechanics, arm strength, and confidence. He didn't get a ton of reps during 11-on-11, but I want to see more from him. I think when Rod watches today's film he will start giving Coran more reps.
Isaiah Williams has the tools, but looked like a freshman running the offense. It's going to take some time. When the first option is open he throws a good ball, but it's a work in progress when he has to survey the field. Isaiah is as expected as a runner. You heard oos and awes from the media and fans when he took off. He can make tacklers miss as well as any player I've seen at Illinois.
Matt Robinson is a thrower who can move, but is inconsistent getting the ball cleanly out his hand and he throws some ducks. When he's good, he makes big plays. He had two long TD's over the middle to Trevon Sidney and Daniel Barker. Then he threw a pick-6 to Jartavius Martin.
Mike Epstein is 100 percent healthy, and he looked really good today. He has a burst that we didn't see last year. Epstein and Reggie Corbin will form one of the best tandems in the Big Ten.
Trevon Sidney was probably the biggest standout on offense. He's a polished receiver who knows how to get open. Josh Imatorbhebeh is running with the 2's. Physical kid, but not as fast as Sidney. Freshman Kyron Cumby was with the wide receivers, so expect that to change on the roster where he's listed as a RB.
With Lowe not there, starters on the offensive line were LT Jordan Slaughter, LG Kendrick Green, C Doug Kramer, RG Richie Petitbon, RT Alex Palczewski. Lovie said after practice that there's a battle for the right guard spot between Petitbon and Verdis Brown and Kievan Myers should also be in that mix. Kendrick Green had a great offseason and is the strongest player on the team. He's should have a break-out season.
WR Edwin Carter was full-go with a brace on his right knee. Not sure if he will be full-go once pads are on, but he did everything today in position drills.
DEFENSE
Standouts were CB Nate Hobbs, FS Tony Adams, and LB Delano Ware
Starters up front were DE Owen Carney, DT Jamal Woods, DT Tymir Oliver, DE Ayo Shogbonyo. The WDE spot is wide open right now. Shogbonyo, Isaiah Gay, Marc Mondesir, and USC transfer Oluwole Betiku all repped there. I would expect Betiku to eventually lock it down, but he's still learning the scheme. Physical specimen. DT Calvin Avery needs to start taking his conditioning seriously. It looks like he has actually gained some weight. He's currently 3rd string. Jamal Milan and Lere Oladipo are 2nd string DT.
Linebackers were WILL Jake Hansen, MIKE Dele Harding, and SAM Delano Ware. Milo Eifler also takes first team reps and will play a lot. Khalan Tolson is the best of the 2's and will contend for playing time. Moving Ware to SLB last year is looking like a great move. He's bigger and hasn't lost any speed. He was great in pass coverage today, running down a deep ball for an interceptions that was targeted for Jakari Norwood. We saw quite a bit of zone blitz today, which is a 180 from early practices last year. Hansen stood out as a pass rusher.
The secondary is really good but lacks depth right now, especially at safety. Starters are CB Nate Hobbs, FS Tony Adams, SS Sydney Brown, CB Jartavius Martin. Adams was a sideline-to-sideline defender today and looked great. Freshman Marquez Beason is the 3rd corner. He's surprisingly strong from a technical standpoint, and is an NFL type of athlete. Stanley Green missed practice for a final exam, so the backup FS was Kerby Joseph. Michael Marchese was the No. 2 SS.
Hobbs, Martin, and Ware all had interceptions.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Caleb Griffin is the No. 1 kicker over James McCourt.
Returning punts were Kyron Cumby, Trevon Sidney, and Nate Hobbs.
Your questions?
Illinois announced the addition of Western Michigan transfer RB Chase Brown prior to practice. He's the twin brother of safety Sydney Brown.
Out for final exams: OL Vederian Lowe, OL Jake Cerney, OL Kievan Myers, S Stanely Green. Joseph Thompson, James Knight, and Dylan Wyatt sat out with injuries.
OFFENSE
Standouts were Trevon Sidney and Kendrick Green.
You can tell OC Rod Smith likes this group of quarterbacks. Brandon Peters, Isaiah Williams, Matt Robinson, and Coran Taylor all have some good traits.
Peters has a good presence in the pocket. It's obvious he's had a lot of reps in a pro style system. His arm strength is very good. I thought he struggled some with his accuracy early in the practice, but improved with more reps. That's something to watch. He was behind receivers a few times. Good athlete who will pick up yards with his feet when he has to scramble, but you likely won't see him running the read option. He had one scramble down the sideline where he showed surprising speed.
Coran Taylor looked very good throwing the ball in passing drills. Much improved mechanics, arm strength, and confidence. He didn't get a ton of reps during 11-on-11, but I want to see more from him. I think when Rod watches today's film he will start giving Coran more reps.
Isaiah Williams has the tools, but looked like a freshman running the offense. It's going to take some time. When the first option is open he throws a good ball, but it's a work in progress when he has to survey the field. Isaiah is as expected as a runner. You heard oos and awes from the media and fans when he took off. He can make tacklers miss as well as any player I've seen at Illinois.
Matt Robinson is a thrower who can move, but is inconsistent getting the ball cleanly out his hand and he throws some ducks. When he's good, he makes big plays. He had two long TD's over the middle to Trevon Sidney and Daniel Barker. Then he threw a pick-6 to Jartavius Martin.
Mike Epstein is 100 percent healthy, and he looked really good today. He has a burst that we didn't see last year. Epstein and Reggie Corbin will form one of the best tandems in the Big Ten.
Trevon Sidney was probably the biggest standout on offense. He's a polished receiver who knows how to get open. Josh Imatorbhebeh is running with the 2's. Physical kid, but not as fast as Sidney. Freshman Kyron Cumby was with the wide receivers, so expect that to change on the roster where he's listed as a RB.
With Lowe not there, starters on the offensive line were LT Jordan Slaughter, LG Kendrick Green, C Doug Kramer, RG Richie Petitbon, RT Alex Palczewski. Lovie said after practice that there's a battle for the right guard spot between Petitbon and Verdis Brown and Kievan Myers should also be in that mix. Kendrick Green had a great offseason and is the strongest player on the team. He's should have a break-out season.
WR Edwin Carter was full-go with a brace on his right knee. Not sure if he will be full-go once pads are on, but he did everything today in position drills.
DEFENSE
Standouts were CB Nate Hobbs, FS Tony Adams, and LB Delano Ware
Starters up front were DE Owen Carney, DT Jamal Woods, DT Tymir Oliver, DE Ayo Shogbonyo. The WDE spot is wide open right now. Shogbonyo, Isaiah Gay, Marc Mondesir, and USC transfer Oluwole Betiku all repped there. I would expect Betiku to eventually lock it down, but he's still learning the scheme. Physical specimen. DT Calvin Avery needs to start taking his conditioning seriously. It looks like he has actually gained some weight. He's currently 3rd string. Jamal Milan and Lere Oladipo are 2nd string DT.
Linebackers were WILL Jake Hansen, MIKE Dele Harding, and SAM Delano Ware. Milo Eifler also takes first team reps and will play a lot. Khalan Tolson is the best of the 2's and will contend for playing time. Moving Ware to SLB last year is looking like a great move. He's bigger and hasn't lost any speed. He was great in pass coverage today, running down a deep ball for an interceptions that was targeted for Jakari Norwood. We saw quite a bit of zone blitz today, which is a 180 from early practices last year. Hansen stood out as a pass rusher.
The secondary is really good but lacks depth right now, especially at safety. Starters are CB Nate Hobbs, FS Tony Adams, SS Sydney Brown, CB Jartavius Martin. Adams was a sideline-to-sideline defender today and looked great. Freshman Marquez Beason is the 3rd corner. He's surprisingly strong from a technical standpoint, and is an NFL type of athlete. Stanley Green missed practice for a final exam, so the backup FS was Kerby Joseph. Michael Marchese was the No. 2 SS.
Hobbs, Martin, and Ware all had interceptions.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Caleb Griffin is the No. 1 kicker over James McCourt.
Returning punts were Kyron Cumby, Trevon Sidney, and Nate Hobbs.
Your questions?
