The Illini practiced from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Thursday and were once again in full pads. Same script as the other days of camp: walk-thrus, warmups, individual drills then 1-on-1s between the receivers and corners, the linemen, and tight-ends, running backs against the linebackers, safeties. After came 11-on-11 scrimmages and special teams.
Guys that were held out of today's practice for rest included OL Jordyn Slaughter and Reuben Unije, DBs P.C. Daniel II and Stanley Green, and LB Jake Hansen and RB Mike Epstein. DB Nick Walker still wasn't practicing after suffering a concussion a couple days ago and LB James Knight also wasn't practicing.
DB Dylan Wyatt went down with a knee injury today while defending WR Caleb Reams down the field. Was walking around in crutches the rest of practice.
Defense had the edge over the offense again today. The offensive line had an okay day, but still couldn't get the run game going. Pass protection was better for the most part. The only sacks that came were mainly coverage sacks. Secondary picked off the quarterbacks three times today and had numerous pass breakups again. Lot of talent in this group.
Tomorrow we get access to the freshmen, so be on the lookout for plenty content about those guys.
Offense
Quarterbacks A.J. Bush and Cam Thomas both had struggles. Bush threw two picks throughout practice and Thomas threw one (the pick on Thomas was also a great play by the DB Jartavius Martin, more on that later). Matt Robinson continues to climb up the QB rankings, first sneaking into second team reps and now today for the first time, receiving first team reps. Doug will have a separate post with more on the quarterback competition.
Running backs haven't really been able to accomplish much out of the backfield. Offensive line hasn't been able to create any holes for them and the linebackers and secondary have covered the outside very well throughout camp so far. I didn't see many runs today go far from the line today.
OT Verdian Lowe seems to be the best player on this offensive line. He locks people up top with his arms and moves his feet quick up to keep up with the DE in the process. His weight transformation this offseason was crazy and is already paying off. Watching him and DE Bobby Roundtree go at it has been so much fun.
The wide receivers didn't have a great day yesterday, but several guys had good showings today and gave their quarterbacks a target. On the play that Wyatt got injured on, Reams hauled in a deep pass down the middle from Thomas. He ran a solid route, kept the defender on his back and made the play. If he just had a little bit more speed to him, he could make a real impact.
WR Carmoni Green made several plays today. When Robinson was in at quarterback, he hit Green down the field for a 75-yard touchdown. The ball was a little under-thrown, but because Green had beat Martin so bad off the line, he still had plenty of room to make the catch and take off down the field.
WR Justice Williams had the catch of the day and capped off today's practice. Walk-on QB Cam Miller came in for his first and only reps of the day. The ball was about at the opposing 25-yard line and Miller lobbed it to Williams at the back-right pylon and Williams brought in the pass over Martin and safety Michael Marchese. The entire offense rushed to Williams to celebrate and practice ended. Him and WR Sam Mays are the guys on this offense that have some real catch radius to them, will be interesting to see if Williams will see the field this year. If he keeps that up, they'll have to get him some time.
Defense
I think it's between the defensive line and the secondary for the best positional groups on this team. The line continues to dominate the run. DT Tymir Oliver has been playing on another level in that regard. DL Lere Oladipo continues show his versatility and make plays from every spot on the line. He is going to have an immediate impact this year. Roundtree is... well he's Roundtree. He's going to get his no matter who he's up against.
Lovie Smith and DE Isaiah Gay kind of got into it towards the later stages of practice. Smith ran onto the field and yelled for him to get off numerous times and essentially yanked him off the field. Smith was close to as mad as he was yesterday after the skirmish broke out.
My guy this training camp has been DT Calvin Avery. Avery isn't even in shape and he's already been dominating the run against the second and third team offenses. He's just so strong up the middle and hasn't budged to anyone from what I've seen. They've been trying to throw two guys at Avery and still hasn't proved effective against him.
Defense threw a lot of different looks at the offense today. Saw some zone blitzes, one of which resulted in a sack for LB Dele Harding after Gay dropped back into coverage. Still mainly set up in the nickle for the most part.
I talked to safeties coach Gill Byrd yesterday about the secondary and he was frustrated about their inability to pick the ball off. Got numerous pass-breakups, but couldn't turn them into interceptions. Well today Byrd got his wish. The secondary came away with three interceptions and a forced fumble today. Bush threw a slant pass behind his receiver through the first round of 11-on-11, in which the CB tipped it and S Delano Ware made the pick. Ware has looked really good with the first team guys, moving well and seemed to always be in the right spots. If Green isn't careful, he might need to watch out for Ware taking his spot.
Got to see the "Peanut Punch" today after Williams caught a 10-yard curl route from Thomas. As soon as Williams turned around, CB Tony Adams punched the ball out and recovered it. Great to see that kind of mentality out of the secondary.
I mentioned Martin's pick on Thomas earlier, so here was the play. Thomas was rolling out to his right and desperate to find himself a target. Can't recall who the receiver was, but Thomas tried to force it into him at the sideline and Martin bullied his way in front of it, picking Thomas off and keeping both feet inbounds. He has just been one of the several freshmen standout DBs.
Speaking of which, CB Ron Hardge III made Bush pay for trying to go deep on him. Hardge was all over his man down the field and a very under-thrown deep ball from Bush led to an easy pick for Hardge. Been a ball-hawking secondary these last couple of days.
And that's it for day 6 of camp. It's a slow grind for the offense so far, but that's to be expected with the implementation of a whole new system. Part of the reason why the defense has had the edge so far here in camp.
Thoughts and Questions?
Guys that were held out of today's practice for rest included OL Jordyn Slaughter and Reuben Unije, DBs P.C. Daniel II and Stanley Green, and LB Jake Hansen and RB Mike Epstein. DB Nick Walker still wasn't practicing after suffering a concussion a couple days ago and LB James Knight also wasn't practicing.
DB Dylan Wyatt went down with a knee injury today while defending WR Caleb Reams down the field. Was walking around in crutches the rest of practice.
Defense had the edge over the offense again today. The offensive line had an okay day, but still couldn't get the run game going. Pass protection was better for the most part. The only sacks that came were mainly coverage sacks. Secondary picked off the quarterbacks three times today and had numerous pass breakups again. Lot of talent in this group.
Tomorrow we get access to the freshmen, so be on the lookout for plenty content about those guys.
Offense
Quarterbacks A.J. Bush and Cam Thomas both had struggles. Bush threw two picks throughout practice and Thomas threw one (the pick on Thomas was also a great play by the DB Jartavius Martin, more on that later). Matt Robinson continues to climb up the QB rankings, first sneaking into second team reps and now today for the first time, receiving first team reps. Doug will have a separate post with more on the quarterback competition.
Running backs haven't really been able to accomplish much out of the backfield. Offensive line hasn't been able to create any holes for them and the linebackers and secondary have covered the outside very well throughout camp so far. I didn't see many runs today go far from the line today.
OT Verdian Lowe seems to be the best player on this offensive line. He locks people up top with his arms and moves his feet quick up to keep up with the DE in the process. His weight transformation this offseason was crazy and is already paying off. Watching him and DE Bobby Roundtree go at it has been so much fun.
The wide receivers didn't have a great day yesterday, but several guys had good showings today and gave their quarterbacks a target. On the play that Wyatt got injured on, Reams hauled in a deep pass down the middle from Thomas. He ran a solid route, kept the defender on his back and made the play. If he just had a little bit more speed to him, he could make a real impact.
WR Carmoni Green made several plays today. When Robinson was in at quarterback, he hit Green down the field for a 75-yard touchdown. The ball was a little under-thrown, but because Green had beat Martin so bad off the line, he still had plenty of room to make the catch and take off down the field.
WR Justice Williams had the catch of the day and capped off today's practice. Walk-on QB Cam Miller came in for his first and only reps of the day. The ball was about at the opposing 25-yard line and Miller lobbed it to Williams at the back-right pylon and Williams brought in the pass over Martin and safety Michael Marchese. The entire offense rushed to Williams to celebrate and practice ended. Him and WR Sam Mays are the guys on this offense that have some real catch radius to them, will be interesting to see if Williams will see the field this year. If he keeps that up, they'll have to get him some time.
Defense
I think it's between the defensive line and the secondary for the best positional groups on this team. The line continues to dominate the run. DT Tymir Oliver has been playing on another level in that regard. DL Lere Oladipo continues show his versatility and make plays from every spot on the line. He is going to have an immediate impact this year. Roundtree is... well he's Roundtree. He's going to get his no matter who he's up against.
Lovie Smith and DE Isaiah Gay kind of got into it towards the later stages of practice. Smith ran onto the field and yelled for him to get off numerous times and essentially yanked him off the field. Smith was close to as mad as he was yesterday after the skirmish broke out.
My guy this training camp has been DT Calvin Avery. Avery isn't even in shape and he's already been dominating the run against the second and third team offenses. He's just so strong up the middle and hasn't budged to anyone from what I've seen. They've been trying to throw two guys at Avery and still hasn't proved effective against him.
Defense threw a lot of different looks at the offense today. Saw some zone blitzes, one of which resulted in a sack for LB Dele Harding after Gay dropped back into coverage. Still mainly set up in the nickle for the most part.
I talked to safeties coach Gill Byrd yesterday about the secondary and he was frustrated about their inability to pick the ball off. Got numerous pass-breakups, but couldn't turn them into interceptions. Well today Byrd got his wish. The secondary came away with three interceptions and a forced fumble today. Bush threw a slant pass behind his receiver through the first round of 11-on-11, in which the CB tipped it and S Delano Ware made the pick. Ware has looked really good with the first team guys, moving well and seemed to always be in the right spots. If Green isn't careful, he might need to watch out for Ware taking his spot.
Got to see the "Peanut Punch" today after Williams caught a 10-yard curl route from Thomas. As soon as Williams turned around, CB Tony Adams punched the ball out and recovered it. Great to see that kind of mentality out of the secondary.
I mentioned Martin's pick on Thomas earlier, so here was the play. Thomas was rolling out to his right and desperate to find himself a target. Can't recall who the receiver was, but Thomas tried to force it into him at the sideline and Martin bullied his way in front of it, picking Thomas off and keeping both feet inbounds. He has just been one of the several freshmen standout DBs.
Speaking of which, CB Ron Hardge III made Bush pay for trying to go deep on him. Hardge was all over his man down the field and a very under-thrown deep ball from Bush led to an easy pick for Hardge. Been a ball-hawking secondary these last couple of days.
And that's it for day 6 of camp. It's a slow grind for the offense so far, but that's to be expected with the implementation of a whole new system. Part of the reason why the defense has had the edge so far here in camp.
Thoughts and Questions?
