I'm not hoping for anymore cracks, nor is he!Best news I have seen yet. Carter is the definition of laying it all on the field and I hope he cracks 2deep early.
Tolson's forearms are as big as my calves. Crazy that these are college sophomores. I have high hopes for Khalan.
Just want to throw this on here. Khalan Tolson and Bobby Rountree are looking like beast
I won't miss all of the drama that seems to always surround Jeff Thomas, but the Fighting Illini will surely miss his ability to return punts and kicks. He averaged 24 yards per punt return last season while the Fighting Illini averaged 3.3 yards (which is pathetic). Somebody on the 2019 squad (and the Special Teams coach) needs to step up and make huge improvements this season regarding that aspect of the game.
I think Mr. Beason or Mr. Cumby will help us in that regard. I'm thinking one of them will likely be returning kicks.I won't miss all of the drama that seems to always surround Jeff Thomas, but the Fighting Illini will surely miss his ability to return punts and kicks. He averaged 24 yards per punt return last season while the Fighting Illini averaged 3.3 yards (which is pathetic). Somebody on the 2019 squad (and the Special Teams coach) needs to step up and make huge improvements this season regarding that aspect of the game.
We have the speed and talent to do something similar in Cumby and Beason.
I really hope that the Bears bring in Chase. They said there would be competition at kicker.Illinois Pro Watch UPDATE:
Nick Allegretti has moved up the Drafttek big board.
Draftek has him ranked at 371 overall- 5 spots improved from the previous rank of 376. He is still projected at fringe UDFA range.
K Chase McLaughlin has still been not given an invite to any prospect exhibition games. Drafttek has not ranked him either in the top 400 prospects yet.
His Linkedin does not provide any insight as well to his future decisions.
Just curious. What does Robert's evaluation have to do with the coaches' evaluation of the squad? Let Taylor go through the spring, at least, and see what type of progress that he has made.Robert just released his guess at the current depth chart and Coran Taylor wasn't even listed. Is there a chance he switches to WR?
https://illiniboard.com/story/2019/1/15/january-depth-chart-update/
I hope you're right. My concern is that it's not always as simple as sticking your fastest player back there and expecting magic to happen regarding punt returns and kick returns. I think the Special Teams coach needs to do a better job of selecting "The Guy" and then developing schemes to make something good happen.
Just curious. What does Robert's evaluation have to do with the coaches' evaluation of the squad? Let Taylor go through the spring, at least, and see what type of progress that he has made.
Fiasco -- created by Miami and Thomas. I think Illinois football came off well, especially Lovie. No harm to Illini that I can see; they were just being played but took the high road. I'm hoping Illini and Lovie succeed. And parents of players: send your sons to Illinois where it appears they'll be very well taken care of. (I hope.)Looks like a lot of players tweeted positive Illini things after the Thomas fiasco. Good to see
I won't miss all of the drama that seems to always surround Jeff Thomas, but the Fighting Illini will surely miss his ability to return punts and kicks. He averaged 24 yards per punt return last season while the Fighting Illini averaged 3.3 yards (which is pathetic). Somebody on the 2019 squad (and the Special Teams coach) needs to step up and make huge improvements this season regarding that aspect of the game.
Yeah..I kind of doubt that Robert was saying "Coran Taylor won't be a QB here, but rather 'these are the QBs that I think will have a chance to play and get snaps.'"Just curious. What does Robert's evaluation have to do with the coaches' evaluation of the squad? Let Taylor go through the spring, at least, and see what type of progress that he has made.
Just want to throw this on here. Khalan Tolson and Bobby Rountree are looking like beast
Let's not forget the role Lovie played in Devin Hester.
http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/140828/devin-hester-forever-tied-to-lovie-smith
Think people give Coach Smith a little too much credit for Devin Hester and not enough credit to Coach Toub
Head coach takes all the credit and blame. And Devin Hester publicly has attributed his successes to Smith on numerous occasions.
Honestly I feel like at least one of them is planned, just based on OL recruiting and 1 commit. Missed on higher targets, obviously the team felt they could wait until next year. Hope to see an earlier commit.I feel like we should move Brown and Pearl to offensive line from day 1. We have 15 or so guys fighting for 4 spots on the defensive line and Brown and Pearl are probably two guys that will find themselves starting third string or lower. Brown was a 4 Star Center coming out of high school and Pearl a 3 Star Tackle. My assumption as of now is that Petitbon wins the starting Guard spot so I would love if Brown was the first man off the bench for the interior positions and Boyd for the tackle positions. I would feel much more comfortable going into the season with this than putting in a walk on like Stover or a freshman like Meyers you don’t know you can trust.
I won't miss all of the drama that seems to always surround Jeff Thomas, but the Fighting Illini will surely miss his ability to return punts and kicks. He averaged 24 yards per punt return last season while the Fighting Illini averaged 3.3 yards (which is pathetic). Somebody on the 2019 squad (and the Special Teams coach) needs to step up and make huge improvements this season regarding that aspect of the game.