Spring Practice Thread

#51      

thunderwear

thunderwear
thunderwear
Blockhead said:
I get it. I read many of the same reports/articles that you guys do. From all accounts Milo is a freak of nature. That’s why he’s a potential NFLer. But there’s a lot more to LB than being a physical freak. It’s probably the most mentally demanding position besides QB and requires instincts and fast reactions. I’m just cautioning overblown expectations. I hope like hell that he’s a beast, and a catalyst for a vastly improved defense but delshawn was no slouch athletically and had solid instincts and smarts.
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Yeah, we may not have a way to replace delshawn. I'm curious what adjustments Miles will make to the fact that we don't have a sufficient LB core for the defense that we want to run
 
#52      

Blockhead

B
Blockhead
I’m honestly worried at basically every level. But it hopefully dominos in a positive way. If the DLine plays consistently well, that improves everyone else. I think Roundtree will be great. I think Avery should be good. Need a couple other DL to step up, Milo to be at least decent. Then we’re on to something.
 
#53      

Dbell1981

D
Decatur, IL
Dbell1981
Blockhead said:
I’m honestly worried at basically every level. But it hopefully dominos in a positive way. If the DLine plays consistently well, that improves everyone else. I think Roundtree will be great. I think Avery should be good. Need a couple other DL to step up, Milo to be at least decent. Then we’re on to something.
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I think Carney will do some damage opposite Roundtree this year
 
#54      

FT35

FT35
Naperville
FT35
thunderwear said:
I'm curious what adjustments Miles will make to the fact that we don't have a sufficient LB core for the defense that we want to run
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I'm just hoping this extra responsibility doesn't adversely effect his ability to cash a paycheck.
 
#55      

thunderwear

thunderwear
thunderwear
Blockhead said:
I’m honestly worried at basically every level. But it hopefully dominos in a positive way. If the DLine plays consistently well, that improves everyone else. I think Roundtree will be great. I think Avery should be good. Need a couple other DL to step up, Milo to be at least decent. Then we’re on to something.
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I like lere. He seemed like he was going to have a breakout year. They seem to be checking him out opposite roundtree. Also, I hear ware bulked up and loved to LB
 
#57      

Deleted member 654622

D
Guest
Deleted member 654622
Blockhead said:
I get it. I read many of the same reports/articles that you guys do. From all accounts Milo is a freak of nature. That’s why he’s a potential NFLer. But there’s a lot more to LB than being a physical freak. It’s probably the most mentally demanding position besides QB and requires instincts and fast reactions. I’m just cautioning overblown expectations. I hope like hell that he’s a beast, and a catalyst for a vastly improved defense but delshawn was no slouch athletically and had solid instincts and smarts.
Click to expand...
I don't want us making something out of nothing here. I think we all agree, Del was a good player for us. But he was not good enough to make up for the lack of talent around him. Melo is a better athlete, not a knock on Del, its just facts. We do not know how he is going to play just yet. My hope is our most talented/veteran group, the DL, plays so good that Melo doesn't have to be in the same position Del was. Then he can go nuts
 
#60      

Blockhead

B
Blockhead
Dude said:
I don't want us making something out of nothing here. I think we all agree, Del was a good player for us. But he was not good enough to make up for the lack of talent around him. Melo is a better athlete, not a knock on Del, its just facts. We do not know how he is going to play just yet. My hope is our most talented/veteran group, the DL, plays so good that Melo doesn't have to be in the same position Del was. Then he can go nuts
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Agree 100%. Decent to good D Line play will make a world of difference for the linebackers.
 
#61      

FT35

FT35
Naperville
FT35
Are we moving back to a 4-3-4 base defense? We've lost/moved four guys from last year's Secondary (Watkins, K. Smith, Ware and Degroot) and are only adding two guys this fall (Thompson and Beason).

Also, word is that Delano Ware is ahead of Eifler at SLB. Harding is the MLB and Hansen is the WLB.

We've seen guys be #1 at positions in the Spring and end up not being the starters in the fall, however. I remember last year that Cerny was practicing with the 1s at one of the tackle positions and Griffin Palmer has been the #1 TE the past couple of Springs.

Hopefully Ware being #1 this Spring is just a motivational move for Eifler. Ware is very young and was only 17 for most of last season. It would be nice to give him time to learn the position since they just moved him.
 
#63      

Blockhead

B
Blockhead
FT35 said:
Also, word is that Delano Ware is ahead of Eifler at SLB. Harding is the MLB and Hansen is the WLB.

Hopefully Ware being #1 this Spring is just a motivational move for Eifler. Ware is very young and was only 17 for most of last season. It would be nice to give him time to learn the position since they just moved him.
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Is Ware really at SLB? I had assumed they were treating him more as an in-the-box safety, similar to the "Star" position of old. Could just be semantics though, and it's probably situational.
 
#65      

thunderwear

thunderwear
thunderwear
FT35 said:
Verdis Brown practiced with the OL on Friday:

https://247sports.com/college/illin...fensive-line-boosting-Illini-depth-130898571/

I wonder if this means that they view Okpala and/or Randolph as potential 3 Technique DTs? Depth at DT is not an issue now but we graduate 3 Seniors this season.

This could also be a short-term move because of the injury to Stover.
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I imagine they are doing a lot of trials to figure out how to address injuries, or to give younger guys a chance to go against first steing
 
#67      

illiniwil

I
illiniwil
too many times last year once we got to the big ten season linebackers couldn't shed blockers and on passing plays
competition was running free in the middle of the field. safeties and linebackers couldn't stay in coverage and make
open field tackles. some of that will improve with a d-line getting up field, but the linebackers and safeties were our
worst positions.
 
#68      

GForce

GForce
GForce
illiniwil said:
too many times last year once we got to the big ten season linebackers couldn't shed blockers and on passing plays
competition was running free in the middle of the field. safeties and linebackers couldn't stay in coverage and make
open field tackles. some of that will improve with a d-line getting up field, but the linebackers and safeties were our
worst positions.
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I'm thinking safety should be improved merely because Brown will be a soph. He showed promise last season, and with a year of game experience under his belt, he should really start to get it.
Linebacker? We'll see how Eifler does, but he has the athleticism and speed to cover the middle of the field.
 
#69      

mdonsbach

M
mdonsbach
Is this on BTN? I see multiple other BIG spring games but not Illinois. Heck I'll take a replay.
 
#70      

IlliniFrank

I
IlliniFrank
mdonsbach said:
Is this on BTN? I see multiple other BIG spring games but not Illinois. Heck I'll take a replay.
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It will not be live on BTN. There is only a stream of the video board available on BTN2GO. I think they will have studio content around the team, but no live production.
 
#72      

Deleted member 649710

D
Guest
Deleted member 649710
It’s a very good thing that the offense has all summer to get better and has some reinforcements coming.