Illinois practiced on Friday from 3 p.m. to approximately 5:30 p.m. Shorts and helmets.
The practice script was atypical for day 1. They did a lot of team stuff and threw guys right into the mix. Walk-thrus, warm-ups, position drills, then 11-on-11 and special teams.
WR Shaedon Meadors, the fifth-year transfer from App St., is out for the season with an injury. He will be on a medical scholarship according to Lovie Smith.
Freshman offensive lineman Keivan Meyers isn't yet on campus. Lovie said he expects his academic situation cleared up and he will be here soon. Similar to Ricky Smalling last year.
DE Isaiah Gay and TE Lou Dorsey went through position drills, but didn't get any reps during team.
OL Kendrick Green was helped off the field after practice. It could have been cramps, but he was really struggling to walk.
DL Jamal Milan was wearing a brace on his left knee and didn't participate in 11-on-11.
OFFENSE
No. 1' were LT Verderean Lowe, LG Kendrick Green, C Doug Kramer, RG Nick Allegretti, RT Alex Palczewski, QB Cam Thomas, RB Mike Epstein, WR Mike Dudek, WR Ricky Smalling, WR Sam Mays / or Dominic Stampley, H-back Austin Roberts
* Stampley is a player. He will see a lot of PT at the slot. Super quick feet, a big burst of speed,and very good hands. He was my breakout player today. Nate Hobbs had a tough time keeping up with this guy, and Hobbs can fly.
* I like the move of Palczewski to tackle. He looks much more natural there.
* This offense is 180 from last year. There's a lot of read-option and RPO out of multiple formations,misdirection stuff, and jet sweeps. They go two backs quite a bit, with Epstein, Corbin, Ra'Von Bonner, and Jakari Norwood all getting carries.
* Kendrick Green jumped in as the starting left guard on day 1 and looked very natural at the postion. He can really move.
* Larry Boyd got 2nd team reps at tackle.
* Quarterback: It will be a good quarterback battle between Cam Thomas and AJ Bush for the duration of camp. They both bring some good qualities.
Thomas has the best grasp of the offense right now, which is understandable since he went through spring practice. He was pretty good on the short and intermediate routes, but was a little rusty. Thomas' confidence is really high and he has more command of the offense than Bush.
Bush has the biggest arm and he throws a very good deep ball, though he's a little inconsistent. He forced some throws into coverage, which is something he's done at his other schools, so you want to see him clear that up. Bush makes better decisions on the read option than Thomas right now, and he's a good runner. Bush had long completions on go-routes to Dudek and Justice Williams.
Coran Taylor is the best of the freshmen. He throws a good ball and looked the most confident. He has a lot of work to do, as do all of the freshmen, but he got the most reps of the freshmen and made some nice throws. Still needs work on timing issues with the read-option, but he runs well.
MJ Rivers is raw and he needs work on his arm angle. His arm strength is adequate, but is erratic and is just trying to learn right now. The game is moving really fast for him. He's not the runner than Thomas, Bush, or Taylor are.
After one viewing, I'm not sure if Matt Robinson can play at this level. He throws ducks, and just doesn't have the arm to play Big Ten football. We will continue to watch him, and hopefully he gets better.
Standouts today were Dudek, Ricky Smalling,and Stampley. Dudek looks great.
DEFENSE
No.1 were DT Tymir Oliver, DL Lere Oladipo, DE Bobby Roundtree, DE Ayo Shogbony, MLB Jake Hansen, WILL Del'Shawn Phillips, SAM Michael Marchese, CB Nate Hobbs, CB Tony Adams, FS Bennett Williams, SS Stanley Green.
* Milan will be back in the starting lineup when he's ready to go.
* I suspect Dele Harding will be a staring LB at some point.
* The best of the freshmen DB's was Jartarvius Martin, who is playing cornerback. He looks like he could be in the rotation, along with JUCO transfer Nick Walker
* The freshmen defensive linemen Calvin Avery and Verdis Brown were both sucking wind early on. Once they get in shape their going to be good. Both are very strong run stuffers. Avery has a gut. He's working on trimming weight.
* The WDE spot is wide open. With Gay not getting reps, it's Shogbonyo, Jamal Woods, and Marc Mondesir right now.
Standouts today were Hansen and Adams.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Catching punts were Mike Dudek, Nate Hobbs, Dominic Stampley, Tony Adams, Trenard Davis, and Reggie Corbin,
The staff is high on freshman kicker Caleb Griffin. I don't think he beats out Chase McLaughlin this year, but the position is solid for the foreseeable future.
The practice script was atypical for day 1. They did a lot of team stuff and threw guys right into the mix. Walk-thrus, warm-ups, position drills, then 11-on-11 and special teams.
WR Shaedon Meadors, the fifth-year transfer from App St., is out for the season with an injury. He will be on a medical scholarship according to Lovie Smith.
Freshman offensive lineman Keivan Meyers isn't yet on campus. Lovie said he expects his academic situation cleared up and he will be here soon. Similar to Ricky Smalling last year.
DE Isaiah Gay and TE Lou Dorsey went through position drills, but didn't get any reps during team.
OL Kendrick Green was helped off the field after practice. It could have been cramps, but he was really struggling to walk.
DL Jamal Milan was wearing a brace on his left knee and didn't participate in 11-on-11.
OFFENSE
No. 1' were LT Verderean Lowe, LG Kendrick Green, C Doug Kramer, RG Nick Allegretti, RT Alex Palczewski, QB Cam Thomas, RB Mike Epstein, WR Mike Dudek, WR Ricky Smalling, WR Sam Mays / or Dominic Stampley, H-back Austin Roberts
* Stampley is a player. He will see a lot of PT at the slot. Super quick feet, a big burst of speed,and very good hands. He was my breakout player today. Nate Hobbs had a tough time keeping up with this guy, and Hobbs can fly.
* I like the move of Palczewski to tackle. He looks much more natural there.
* This offense is 180 from last year. There's a lot of read-option and RPO out of multiple formations,misdirection stuff, and jet sweeps. They go two backs quite a bit, with Epstein, Corbin, Ra'Von Bonner, and Jakari Norwood all getting carries.
* Kendrick Green jumped in as the starting left guard on day 1 and looked very natural at the postion. He can really move.
* Larry Boyd got 2nd team reps at tackle.
* Quarterback: It will be a good quarterback battle between Cam Thomas and AJ Bush for the duration of camp. They both bring some good qualities.
Thomas has the best grasp of the offense right now, which is understandable since he went through spring practice. He was pretty good on the short and intermediate routes, but was a little rusty. Thomas' confidence is really high and he has more command of the offense than Bush.
Bush has the biggest arm and he throws a very good deep ball, though he's a little inconsistent. He forced some throws into coverage, which is something he's done at his other schools, so you want to see him clear that up. Bush makes better decisions on the read option than Thomas right now, and he's a good runner. Bush had long completions on go-routes to Dudek and Justice Williams.
Coran Taylor is the best of the freshmen. He throws a good ball and looked the most confident. He has a lot of work to do, as do all of the freshmen, but he got the most reps of the freshmen and made some nice throws. Still needs work on timing issues with the read-option, but he runs well.
MJ Rivers is raw and he needs work on his arm angle. His arm strength is adequate, but is erratic and is just trying to learn right now. The game is moving really fast for him. He's not the runner than Thomas, Bush, or Taylor are.
After one viewing, I'm not sure if Matt Robinson can play at this level. He throws ducks, and just doesn't have the arm to play Big Ten football. We will continue to watch him, and hopefully he gets better.
Standouts today were Dudek, Ricky Smalling,and Stampley. Dudek looks great.
DEFENSE
No.1 were DT Tymir Oliver, DL Lere Oladipo, DE Bobby Roundtree, DE Ayo Shogbony, MLB Jake Hansen, WILL Del'Shawn Phillips, SAM Michael Marchese, CB Nate Hobbs, CB Tony Adams, FS Bennett Williams, SS Stanley Green.
* Milan will be back in the starting lineup when he's ready to go.
* I suspect Dele Harding will be a staring LB at some point.
* The best of the freshmen DB's was Jartarvius Martin, who is playing cornerback. He looks like he could be in the rotation, along with JUCO transfer Nick Walker
* The freshmen defensive linemen Calvin Avery and Verdis Brown were both sucking wind early on. Once they get in shape their going to be good. Both are very strong run stuffers. Avery has a gut. He's working on trimming weight.
* The WDE spot is wide open. With Gay not getting reps, it's Shogbonyo, Jamal Woods, and Marc Mondesir right now.
Standouts today were Hansen and Adams.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Catching punts were Mike Dudek, Nate Hobbs, Dominic Stampley, Tony Adams, Trenard Davis, and Reggie Corbin,
The staff is high on freshman kicker Caleb Griffin. I don't think he beats out Chase McLaughlin this year, but the position is solid for the foreseeable future.
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