Illinois ran essentially the same script for its second day of camp. Shorts, T-shirts and helmets. No pads yet. The team went through walk-throughs, position drills, 7v7 and then 11v11. Of course, special teams were mixed in there too. Camp ran over again to 12:30, so getting post practice interviews couldn't work today since we had to make it to Ubben at 12:45 for Underwood's press conference. More football content to come tomorrow.
RB Mike Epstein, DT Jamal Milan, WR Edwin Carter didn't practice. They are on every other day schedules for camp as they slowing get eased back into things. DE Ayo Shogbonyo didn't practice and had a boot on his foot.
Offense:
Quarterbacks were throwing balls to the wrong team all day long. Freshman Isaiah Williams had three picks on the day (two of which were literally back-to-back). Brandon Peters had one pick for sure, may have been two (memory is little foggy). Matt Robinson and Coran Taylor both threw bad picks too. Williams' picks came from not seeing the linebacker drop back into Cover 2, and then throwing behind his receiver on a slant route. His first pick which came during 7v7, was also underthrown.
Takeaway those picks, however, and I would say Williams looked slightly above average during 11v11. Like I think Doug mentioned yesterday, Williams is good at hitting his first read and he did that several times today well. When the play broke down, you saw the Isaiah Williams many Illini fans felt they were getting when he joined. On one play, Williams felt the pocket collapse, rolled to his left and made a cross-body throw through a tight window for a first down. It was extremely impressive. Peters didn't stand out today, but he also didn't throw 3 picks like Williams. He made the easy passes today. Robinson had a couple nice balls, which included hitting TE Daniel Barker down the seem for a long TD (more on Barker in a sec). Taylor didn't practice well today.
RB Jakari Norwood is most certainly getting looked at as a passing weapon out of the backfield. He's been featured several times in passing packages and caught a long ball while on a wheel route. He needed to get stronger and better hands this offseason and it looks like he did that.
WR Trevon Sidney and Casey Washington both continued to impress today. They already have some of the best hands on the team and both seem to be proficient route runners. WR Justice Williams is catching everything like he did last fall camp, not sure if it'll mean anything come fall, but he had another good practice.
Now back to Barker, he looks like he will be a legitimate weapon for this Illini offense (after two day of camp, so take it or leave it). He's leaned down significantly and moves way better than he did last year. He caught several deep balls today against the first team defense. Barker has impressed me significantly.
Defense:
It's tough to gauge how the defensive line does against the run since pads are off, but in the passing game, they feasted on whoever was under center. DE Oluwole Betiku dominated today honestly. He had two sacks and two TFLs against the run. He's repped with the first team almost exclusively after repping third team yesterday (they were easing him into camp). Poor Matt Robinson got put on his butt when Betiku sacked him. He barely hit Robinson, but Robinson small frame made it look worse than it was. It was one of those "woah big fella, slow down there."
DT Calvin Avery had a better day of practice, but boy it's tough to not notice his weight gain. Apparently, all this weight gain occurs when he goes home, so maybe he can shape up before the season starts? I doubt it really. Freshmen DEs Keith Randolph and Seth Coleman both registered sacks today, really positive sighting there.
LB Jake Hansen was a ballhawk for some reason today. He picked off both Peters and Williams rather impressively while covering the middle of the field. Coverage was Hansen's weak spot last year, so positive thing to see from him. Starting to see more Milo Eifler reps on the first team, but still mostly controlled by Delano Ware.
CB Nate Hobbs continues to shine to no surprise, he was lockdown all day. CB Marquez Beason looked more confident today and made some plays on the ball. He's been shadowing Quan Martin so far through camp and those two look close. Michael Marchese had two picks if you care to hear about that. Both picks just came because he was in the right place at the right time, but still good for him.
P.S. Blake Hayes still boots bombs.
So those were my notes from Day 2 of camp. Will be back out there tomorrow for more coverage and content. Check out our stuff from basketball today and the scrimmage too if you're interested.
With that said, any questions about camp today?
RB Mike Epstein, DT Jamal Milan, WR Edwin Carter didn't practice. They are on every other day schedules for camp as they slowing get eased back into things. DE Ayo Shogbonyo didn't practice and had a boot on his foot.
Offense:
Quarterbacks were throwing balls to the wrong team all day long. Freshman Isaiah Williams had three picks on the day (two of which were literally back-to-back). Brandon Peters had one pick for sure, may have been two (memory is little foggy). Matt Robinson and Coran Taylor both threw bad picks too. Williams' picks came from not seeing the linebacker drop back into Cover 2, and then throwing behind his receiver on a slant route. His first pick which came during 7v7, was also underthrown.
Takeaway those picks, however, and I would say Williams looked slightly above average during 11v11. Like I think Doug mentioned yesterday, Williams is good at hitting his first read and he did that several times today well. When the play broke down, you saw the Isaiah Williams many Illini fans felt they were getting when he joined. On one play, Williams felt the pocket collapse, rolled to his left and made a cross-body throw through a tight window for a first down. It was extremely impressive. Peters didn't stand out today, but he also didn't throw 3 picks like Williams. He made the easy passes today. Robinson had a couple nice balls, which included hitting TE Daniel Barker down the seem for a long TD (more on Barker in a sec). Taylor didn't practice well today.
RB Jakari Norwood is most certainly getting looked at as a passing weapon out of the backfield. He's been featured several times in passing packages and caught a long ball while on a wheel route. He needed to get stronger and better hands this offseason and it looks like he did that.
WR Trevon Sidney and Casey Washington both continued to impress today. They already have some of the best hands on the team and both seem to be proficient route runners. WR Justice Williams is catching everything like he did last fall camp, not sure if it'll mean anything come fall, but he had another good practice.
Now back to Barker, he looks like he will be a legitimate weapon for this Illini offense (after two day of camp, so take it or leave it). He's leaned down significantly and moves way better than he did last year. He caught several deep balls today against the first team defense. Barker has impressed me significantly.
Defense:
It's tough to gauge how the defensive line does against the run since pads are off, but in the passing game, they feasted on whoever was under center. DE Oluwole Betiku dominated today honestly. He had two sacks and two TFLs against the run. He's repped with the first team almost exclusively after repping third team yesterday (they were easing him into camp). Poor Matt Robinson got put on his butt when Betiku sacked him. He barely hit Robinson, but Robinson small frame made it look worse than it was. It was one of those "woah big fella, slow down there."
DT Calvin Avery had a better day of practice, but boy it's tough to not notice his weight gain. Apparently, all this weight gain occurs when he goes home, so maybe he can shape up before the season starts? I doubt it really. Freshmen DEs Keith Randolph and Seth Coleman both registered sacks today, really positive sighting there.
LB Jake Hansen was a ballhawk for some reason today. He picked off both Peters and Williams rather impressively while covering the middle of the field. Coverage was Hansen's weak spot last year, so positive thing to see from him. Starting to see more Milo Eifler reps on the first team, but still mostly controlled by Delano Ware.
CB Nate Hobbs continues to shine to no surprise, he was lockdown all day. CB Marquez Beason looked more confident today and made some plays on the ball. He's been shadowing Quan Martin so far through camp and those two look close. Michael Marchese had two picks if you care to hear about that. Both picks just came because he was in the right place at the right time, but still good for him.
P.S. Blake Hayes still boots bombs.
So those were my notes from Day 2 of camp. Will be back out there tomorrow for more coverage and content. Check out our stuff from basketball today and the scrimmage too if you're interested.
With that said, any questions about camp today?
