BirdDog9048
The Chief Lives
- Chicago, IL
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!
In my opinion, rugby punting is only an option if your punter is hurt and your backup is a bum.
Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
- Status
In my opinion, rugby punting is only an option if your punter is hurt and your backup is a bum.
Might be time to change your opinion. Australian punters are firmly planting themselves on top of the punting game in college football. The last 4 Ray Guy Award winners, as well as each finalist this season, have had rugby punting in their arsenal (they can traditional punt as well). If you are calling guys like Tom Hackett, Mitch Wishnowsky, and Cameron Johnson bums, I'm not really sure what you are looking for in a college punter.
Agreed. Rugby punting is becoming big in the college game. It's advantageous for your coverage team (more time to get downfield) and really good ones can boom it.
Yep his willingness to block suggests he might end up better as a blocker.
Well you know I like the sounds of that. Does anybody have a realistic number on his weight currently? I can not see a de standing up against the run sub 250 fresh:hand:man or not.
Adesanya and McGrew were listed at 250 and 245 this year, so, don't think that will matter. They're going to have to play
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
6' 3" 242. Should be able to add 8-10 pounds of muscle prior to the season.
When will we officially hear about all of the early enrollees? First day of second semester?
How much did they contribute this year LLP?
They had 5 tackles combined and McGrew had them all.
Right now Scout shows Watkins and Philips as signing their NLI's.
http://www.scout.com/college/illinois/2017-football-commits
Watkins is enrolling early so that checks out. Not sure if Phillips is enrolling early.
For some reason schools aren't allowed to announce that an early enrollee has signed with them anymore. Has to come from the student. So yes, first day of class or until the student doesn't want to keep it quiet.
Yeah, new NCAA rule for this year.
Illini fan in Tennessee
- Eastern Tennessee
How big of an impact will Cam Thomas make in 2017 and 2018?
For a guy that has been a part of an offense that hasn't scored more that two touchdowns in 2 years my guess will be not much. A QB has to be able to lead and have a winning mentality. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
He'll be a red shirt for 2017, probably a backup in 2018.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Almost certainly, none.
Good Lord! Yep, how Thomas develops will be interesting. Obviously, McGee really likes him and that's good enough for me.
I believe a likely scenario is that Cam Thomas will redshirt and by his r-sophomore year he will be competing for the starting job against the likes of a player like Coran Taylor (fingers crossed) who will be a r-freshman. However, you have to be skeptical of Cam Thomas nonetheless, he doesn't have the accolades relative to other QB prospects. Though, his athletic ability is off the charts and he will make an impact whether he is playing QB or some other position.
Cali, you know thats a bad measurement. Those guys are the ones who will HAVE to be at the top of the 2017 depth chart at DE, and who the incoming guys will be competing against for PT. Obviously they didn't play much when we had President, Smoot, and Phillips all in front of them. How many tackles did ANY other DE have? And don't include Crawford, he is even less likely to play 1st and 2nd down at DE than McGrew and Adesanya.
Simply put, our DE spot is barren and wide open. But to say they won't play because they're sub-250 lbs is ignoring the state of our depth chart. Also, it's not like our DL was very good against the run this year with the extra weight.
Cam was the number 2 qb in Illinois.. .he was good his team around him just really was awful. ...he was clearly their best player and athlete
247 IL Rankings updated:
Current Rank | Player | Rank Change (New - Previous)
2 Jeff Thomas (+0)
6 Ricky Smalling (+7)
8 Kendrick Green (+4)
13 Olalere Oladipo (+2)
17 Kendall Smith (+17)
20 Joshua Maize (+16)
25 Vederian Lowe (+15)
26 Cam Thomas (+11)
31 Alex Palczewski (NR)
39 Terez Lagrone (-15)
42 Marc Mondesir (-1)
51 Rey Estes (-24)
53 James Knight (-23)
Current Rank | Player | Rank Change (New - Previous)
2 Jeff Thomas (+0)
6 Ricky Smalling (+7)
8 Kendrick Green (+4)
13 Olalere Oladipo (+2)
17 Kendall Smith (+17)
20 Joshua Maize (+16)
25 Vederian Lowe (+15)
26 Cam Thomas (+11)
31 Alex Palczewski (NR)
39 Terez Lagrone (-15)
42 Marc Mondesir (-1)
51 Rey Estes (-24)
53 James Knight (-23)
Wasn't Illinois his ONLY offer?
- Status