Day Three of Illinois' fall camp brought out the shoulder pads for the players, adding a little bit more juice to practice. The schedule changed slightly too, with doing walk-throughs/position drills first and then jumping right to 11v11. Seemed like that session of 11v11 was focused on run offense and RPOs. They then broke from that and went to 7v7 and OL/DL 1v1s. And afterwards came an 11v11 2 minute/up-tempo drills. Team practiced from 10 a.m. to 12:30 once again today.
Players that were out today were DE Ayo Shogbonyo again (has a boot on his left foot), SS Sydney Brown (told me it was something minor), DT Kenyon Jackson (off day for him) and still RB RaVon Bonner (more precautionary, nothing serious from what I've been told).
Both WR Edwin Carter and RB Mike Epstein practiced today, but Carter still isn't getting thrown into 11v11 as the team is still being very cautious with him they thought he wouldn't even be suited up for this camp in the first place.
Offense:
Much better day for the offense overall. Run game was going and nowhere near as many turnovers as yesterday. Quarterbacks Isaiah Williams and Brandon Peters had solid days, Matt Robinson was terrible and I thought Rod was going to end him right there on the field. Coran Taylor barely saw any snaps and didn't do anything with them.
Something that should start to get fans giddy is Williams starting to make reads out of the RPOs. He made a couple nice reads in the first session of 11v11. This is an area where he should thrive as his ability to run should keep opposing defenses on their toes and force them to respect the option. That's what happened today on a couple plays. Williams faked the handoff, causing the LBs to sink in, and then he pulled it and hit his man on a slant route for a first down. He had to make a split second read and he did that well overall. He threaded the ball too and had good zip on it. Williams didn't turn the ball over at all today which is HUGE jump from yesterday after his three picks. You can see how Rod enjoys using him soooo much more than any of the other QBs, but he just has to develop his arm and accuracy more as camp goes on.
Peters was bland today until he ran the 2 minute drill to perfection at the end of camp. Moved the ball down the field, didn't force anything, and then threw a nice jumpball to WR Josh Imatorbhebhe who had 1v1 against Nick Walker for a 9-yard TD. The only disclaimer here is that it was against the 2nd team defense. Williams moved the ball to the oppo 40 yd line but was stopped on 3rd down against the 1st team D.
Robinson was just really bad with going through his progression today, and scrambled way too much in the pocket, resulting in sacks and missing wide open receivers. Robinson was the first QB to get 1st team reps today in 11v11 (this means nothing by the way) and immediately threw a pick, got chewed out by Rod, and then subbed out for Peters. Not a great day for the Robinson fan club.
Run game overall won the day for the offense. Reggie Corbin was doing Reggie Corbin things and Dre Brown had another long TD run like he did pretty much every day of camp last year. Offensive line overall was solid. Vederian Lowe and Kendrick were really good as they usually are when it comes to opening up a hole on that left side of the line.
With shoulder pads being on today, we finally got to see the best part of camp IMO which is OL/DL 1v1s, which the offensive line utterly dominated today (more of a hit on the defensive line. Very underwhelming during 1v1s). Lowe dominated Isaiah Gay every rep. Kendrick Green stood up Jamal Woods most times and Richie Petibon repped really well too against Lere Oladipo. Now-RG Verdis Brown performed well too which is a large positive. Staff really likes how he's coming along. The highlight of the 1v1s came when Jake Stover stood up DT Deon Pate and literally just threw him to the ground. It was pretty sweet.
I'm really liking how Rod is starting to use WR Kyron Cumby. You're seeing him get thrown all over the field. He had a nice 15 yard catch which he extended another 5 yards after he made a nice juke. Then he ran for a nice 10 yards on a reverse end-around. He's a weapon for sure. WR Trevon Sidney caught a deep ball from Robinson (his only good throw of the day) and make a nice cut to extend it to what probably would've been a TD. Imatorbhebhe made the TD catch today, showing off his skillset for the first time of camp.
Justice Williams repped at TE today and I really like that move. Has great hands and a wide catching range, but doesn't have the speed to get real separation from corners, so might as well try his luck at TE. He has the body to do it, so might as well try it. I like it and he may actually see the field on two TE passing sets.
Defense:
Like I mentioned, the D-line struggled during 1v1s today. Kind of has me concerned but I'm going to jump to that yet. What I'm starting to make of this D-line is that it's composed of a lot of really solid players, but is missing a stud pass rusher, or essentially Bobby Roundtree. This is where guys like Isaiah Gay, Oluwole Betiku, Owen Carney have to step up, but I'm not sure if any of those guys except Betiku can do it and he's not even a sure-fire deal. Something that is REALLY encouraging for this D-line has been the strong start to camp from DE Seth Coleman. Coleman is performing well in all aspects of camp. He's now recorded three or four sacks in the last two days of 11v11 and was one of the only players that performed solid during 1v1s. His speed and athleticism so far off the edge has been really refreshing. DL coach Austin Clark told me today Coleman's been his breakout/most surprising player through camp so far. I know it's early, but if Coleman keeps playing like this, he's going to play real snaps this year and have an impact.
LB Jake Hansen continues to dominate camp during 11v11. He was consistently in the backfield today and made some plays in coverage today. It's looking like so far he's really taken in his weaknesses from last season and starting to improve upon them (once again though, it's early). LB Milo Eifler saw some 1st team reps and did relatively well. I wouldn't be surprised if him and Delano Ware split time this year.
FS Tony Adams was a baller again today. This man is literally just all over the field making plays and it's almost like he comes out of nowhere. Big-time PBUs, TFLs on flat routes that he covers perfectly. When you think playmaker or game changer on this Illini defense, his name should be near or at the top of the list. CB Marquez Beason made a nice PBU during camp which required him to defer from zone coverage and jump on a man. That's an instinctive read that freshman corners some times struggle to make as they think it's their job to hand-off the guy to the LB covering the next zone. Just a small thing that's encouraging to see.
And that's it for Day Three of camp. Overall, the offense won today IMO with the run game. Passing game slowly starting to develop along with Isaiah Williams and Brandon Peters. Top guys on defense continue to show why they are the top guys and freshmen starting to make plays. Should get even more fun as we go.
Any questions?
Players that were out today were DE Ayo Shogbonyo again (has a boot on his left foot), SS Sydney Brown (told me it was something minor), DT Kenyon Jackson (off day for him) and still RB RaVon Bonner (more precautionary, nothing serious from what I've been told).
Both WR Edwin Carter and RB Mike Epstein practiced today, but Carter still isn't getting thrown into 11v11 as the team is still being very cautious with him they thought he wouldn't even be suited up for this camp in the first place.
Offense:
Much better day for the offense overall. Run game was going and nowhere near as many turnovers as yesterday. Quarterbacks Isaiah Williams and Brandon Peters had solid days, Matt Robinson was terrible and I thought Rod was going to end him right there on the field. Coran Taylor barely saw any snaps and didn't do anything with them.
Something that should start to get fans giddy is Williams starting to make reads out of the RPOs. He made a couple nice reads in the first session of 11v11. This is an area where he should thrive as his ability to run should keep opposing defenses on their toes and force them to respect the option. That's what happened today on a couple plays. Williams faked the handoff, causing the LBs to sink in, and then he pulled it and hit his man on a slant route for a first down. He had to make a split second read and he did that well overall. He threaded the ball too and had good zip on it. Williams didn't turn the ball over at all today which is HUGE jump from yesterday after his three picks. You can see how Rod enjoys using him soooo much more than any of the other QBs, but he just has to develop his arm and accuracy more as camp goes on.
Peters was bland today until he ran the 2 minute drill to perfection at the end of camp. Moved the ball down the field, didn't force anything, and then threw a nice jumpball to WR Josh Imatorbhebhe who had 1v1 against Nick Walker for a 9-yard TD. The only disclaimer here is that it was against the 2nd team defense. Williams moved the ball to the oppo 40 yd line but was stopped on 3rd down against the 1st team D.
Robinson was just really bad with going through his progression today, and scrambled way too much in the pocket, resulting in sacks and missing wide open receivers. Robinson was the first QB to get 1st team reps today in 11v11 (this means nothing by the way) and immediately threw a pick, got chewed out by Rod, and then subbed out for Peters. Not a great day for the Robinson fan club.
Run game overall won the day for the offense. Reggie Corbin was doing Reggie Corbin things and Dre Brown had another long TD run like he did pretty much every day of camp last year. Offensive line overall was solid. Vederian Lowe and Kendrick were really good as they usually are when it comes to opening up a hole on that left side of the line.
With shoulder pads being on today, we finally got to see the best part of camp IMO which is OL/DL 1v1s, which the offensive line utterly dominated today (more of a hit on the defensive line. Very underwhelming during 1v1s). Lowe dominated Isaiah Gay every rep. Kendrick Green stood up Jamal Woods most times and Richie Petibon repped really well too against Lere Oladipo. Now-RG Verdis Brown performed well too which is a large positive. Staff really likes how he's coming along. The highlight of the 1v1s came when Jake Stover stood up DT Deon Pate and literally just threw him to the ground. It was pretty sweet.
I'm really liking how Rod is starting to use WR Kyron Cumby. You're seeing him get thrown all over the field. He had a nice 15 yard catch which he extended another 5 yards after he made a nice juke. Then he ran for a nice 10 yards on a reverse end-around. He's a weapon for sure. WR Trevon Sidney caught a deep ball from Robinson (his only good throw of the day) and make a nice cut to extend it to what probably would've been a TD. Imatorbhebhe made the TD catch today, showing off his skillset for the first time of camp.
Justice Williams repped at TE today and I really like that move. Has great hands and a wide catching range, but doesn't have the speed to get real separation from corners, so might as well try his luck at TE. He has the body to do it, so might as well try it. I like it and he may actually see the field on two TE passing sets.
Defense:
Like I mentioned, the D-line struggled during 1v1s today. Kind of has me concerned but I'm going to jump to that yet. What I'm starting to make of this D-line is that it's composed of a lot of really solid players, but is missing a stud pass rusher, or essentially Bobby Roundtree. This is where guys like Isaiah Gay, Oluwole Betiku, Owen Carney have to step up, but I'm not sure if any of those guys except Betiku can do it and he's not even a sure-fire deal. Something that is REALLY encouraging for this D-line has been the strong start to camp from DE Seth Coleman. Coleman is performing well in all aspects of camp. He's now recorded three or four sacks in the last two days of 11v11 and was one of the only players that performed solid during 1v1s. His speed and athleticism so far off the edge has been really refreshing. DL coach Austin Clark told me today Coleman's been his breakout/most surprising player through camp so far. I know it's early, but if Coleman keeps playing like this, he's going to play real snaps this year and have an impact.
LB Jake Hansen continues to dominate camp during 11v11. He was consistently in the backfield today and made some plays in coverage today. It's looking like so far he's really taken in his weaknesses from last season and starting to improve upon them (once again though, it's early). LB Milo Eifler saw some 1st team reps and did relatively well. I wouldn't be surprised if him and Delano Ware split time this year.
FS Tony Adams was a baller again today. This man is literally just all over the field making plays and it's almost like he comes out of nowhere. Big-time PBUs, TFLs on flat routes that he covers perfectly. When you think playmaker or game changer on this Illini defense, his name should be near or at the top of the list. CB Marquez Beason made a nice PBU during camp which required him to defer from zone coverage and jump on a man. That's an instinctive read that freshman corners some times struggle to make as they think it's their job to hand-off the guy to the LB covering the next zone. Just a small thing that's encouraging to see.
And that's it for Day Three of camp. Overall, the offense won today IMO with the run game. Passing game slowly starting to develop along with Isaiah Williams and Brandon Peters. Top guys on defense continue to show why they are the top guys and freshmen starting to make plays. Should get even more fun as we go.
Any questions?
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