http://niuhuskies.cstv.com/sports/m-foot...08aab.html
Quote:DEKALB, Ill.-With five seniors in the Huskie wide receivers corps and a former Huskie standout as a position coach, NIU's young receivers have plenty of strong examples to learn from to hone their craft.
Entering his second season coaching Huskie wide receivers, former Huskie all-star P.J. Fleck is molding NIU receivers into difference makers with and without the ball. Fleck's task will be made a little easier given the veteran leadership at the position.
"It's great to have a veteran group," Fleck said. "It's great for the young guys as well. Those young guys see how Britt (Davis) and Matt (Simon) go about their business. Anytime you have five senior wide receivers like we do, they're going to set the tone for these youngsters"
While the primary job of a wide receiver is to catch the football, blocking is one of the most important aspects of a wide receivers' game. A block from a wide receiver can be the difference from just a big gain or a touchdown run. Fleck understands this and is instilling that philosophy into Huskie receivers.
"There's so many things here or there that when you re-watch a big run and a guy gets a gain of 40, that should have been a touchdown or that could have been 80," he said. "Wide receivers are a major part of that. Blocking is a lost art. We're trying to bring that back here.
"We take a lot of pride in our run game. We've had that streak of nine years in a row of a 1,000-yard rusher, and we take pride in that as well. We want to keep that going just as much as the running backs."
Davis is one of the key returners for the Huskies in 2008. Last season, he started nine of NIU's 12 games, missing a three-game stretch from Oct. 6-20, 2007 due to an injury. He ranked second on the team with 391 receiving yards and was third on the squad with 33 catches. Now healthy and more mature, Fleck expects Davis to play a key role in the success of the Huskies this season.
"He's going to play a huge role (in our offense)," Fleck said of senior wide receiver Britt Davis. "When you look at him and his freshman year, he was good. He was very athletic, made a lot of plays. His sophomore year, he did the same thing.
"As an athlete, it's tough when everything is put on you. With some people, it takes a little longer to mature to have that responsibility. He'll tell you he wasn't satisfied with last year. He's grown so much. He's going to be ready to go this year. He's worked so hard this summer."
While Fleck has high hopes for Davis, he knows Davis will not be doing it alone. NIU's leading receiver from 2007, Matt Simon (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) returns for his senior season. Last year, Simon led the Huskies with 969 yards receiving on 52 receptions, averaging 18.6 yards a catch.
A day after the Huskies' first scrimmage of camp, NIU head coach Jerry Kill was pleased with what he saw on film and the work his team put in today.
"I thought we made a lot of fundamental mistakes just because it was more of a live situation and the kids were anxious," Kill said of yesterday's scrimmage." When you're anxious, sometimes you don't concentrate and focus. I think the longer it went, the better it got. Overall it was good solid work.
"I thought today was very good. I've seen some good things on both sides of the ball," Kill said. "We've had a lot of great thing happen in practice, good and bad, that you can teach from that will help us down the road. The team is so much farther along now than it was in the spring, it's like night and day. That's the best way I can describe it."
The Huskies return to the practice field Thursday morning in their continued preparation for the 2008 campaign. NIU opens at Minnesota Aug. 30, while the home opener against Indiana State is Sept. 20. The team will hold a Fan Day on Saturday, Aug. 16 at Huskie Stadium where fans are invited to watch the team in its second "big" scrimmage of the year beginning at 10 a.m. and then come onto the field for autographs. The event is free to the public. For more information, go to http://www.niuhuskies.com
We need to see one of the younger guys step up and push for serious PT, otherwise, next season we will have an even weaker WR group.
i really hope fleck can get these guys ready.. we really havent had any kind of threat on the outside since hurd, and theres no reason davis cant be that guy.
philhelm Wrote:i really hope fleck can get these guys ready.. we really havent had any kind of threat on the outside since hurd, and theres no reason davis cant be that guy.
.. I'm hoping for Britt....hoping he has THAT year we have been waiting for.... He has some GREAT games and then some others....2008 the year for 7....
Nigel Incubator-Jones Wrote:Britt Davis is an enigma. Instead of continuing to obsess over the overrated Davis finally delivering we need to see some of these other wide receivers step up to the fore.
I don't think it's obsessing when you HOPE someone has a good year. And obsession would be when you keep posting the same thing 10 times a day about, Britt Davis, a 4 or 5 win season, or a bad offensive line....
Well, here's an interesting quote from today's Chronicle:
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/...orts02.txt
Quote:He and fellow senior wideout Matt Simon caught 300 passes per day. Davis stepped into a film room in the summer for the first time in his career. He sees himself as a wideout who can make plays on a consistent basis now.
rabidawg900 Wrote:Well, here's an interesting quote from today's Chronicle:
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/...orts02.txt
Quote:He and fellow senior wideout Matt Simon caught 300 passes per day. Davis stepped into a film room in the summer for the first time in his career. He sees himself as a wideout who can make plays on a consistent basis now.
"for the first time" says so much about his previous effort and also about his willingness to work harder this year. i hope it makes a difference.
If Davis learns how to catch and has a Sam Hurd-esque SR season then I'm sure he can find an NFL team to latch on to, because he has the measurables.
rabidawg900 Wrote:Well, here's an interesting quote from today's Chronicle:
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/...orts02.txt
Quote:He and fellow senior wideout Matt Simon caught 300 passes per day. Davis stepped into a film room in the summer for the first time in his career. He sees himself as a wideout who can make plays on a consistent basis now.
What the F!!! Since he is a senior and probably wants to play pro ball, now he decides it is time to work hard. It is like the contact lenses. I don't expect him to be that much improved. He is not talented enough to just turn it on when he wants too.
geez. we watched film for 4 hours on sundays and a half hour each day during the school week in homeroom and then 2 more hours on wednesday night. AND THAT WAS HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!
klake87 Wrote:rabidawg900 Wrote:Well, here's an interesting quote from today's Chronicle:
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/...orts02.txt
Quote:He and fellow senior wideout Matt Simon caught 300 passes per day. Davis stepped into a film room in the summer for the first time in his career. He sees himself as a wideout who can make plays on a consistent basis now.
What the F!!! Since he is a senior and probably wants to play pro ball, now he decides it is time to work hard. It is like the contact lenses. I don't expect him to be that much improved. He is not talented enough to just turn it on when he wants too.
I think this season he is honestly making an all out effort. Sounds like in the past he thought he could jog out there and make plays. We shall see if this effort pays off, or if he wasted his talent.
But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, he is trying to improve, so I think he should. No one can deny his physical skills.
Britt Davis is the most overrated and overhyped player to grace DeKalb in my 27 years of following NIU football. What this team needs is for the OTHER receivers to step up. I've grown tired of waiting on the enigmatic Davis.
Nigel Incubator-Jones Wrote:Britt Davis is the most overrated and overhyped player to grace DeKalb in my 27 years of following NIU football. What this team needs is for the OTHER receivers to step up. I've grown tired of waiting on the enigmatic Davis.
That looks a lot like post #5.
TheNEWguy Wrote:klake87 Wrote:rabidawg900 Wrote:Well, here's an interesting quote from today's Chronicle:
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/...orts02.txt
Quote:He and fellow senior wideout Matt Simon caught 300 passes per day. Davis stepped into a film room in the summer for the first time in his career. He sees himself as a wideout who can make plays on a consistent basis now.
What the F!!! Since he is a senior and probably wants to play pro ball, now he decides it is time to work hard. It is like the contact lenses. I don't expect him to be that much improved. He is not talented enough to just turn it on when he wants too.
I think this season he is honestly making an all out effort. Sounds like in the past he thought he could jog out there and make plays. We shall see if this effort pays off, or if he wasted his talent.
But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, he is trying to improve, so I think he should. No one can deny his physical skills.
I don't. Evidently, he is not a hard worker. If he was, he would have been busting his a$$ since Freshman year. I don't think, that in your senior year, you can get desire. We will see when he steps on the field but talk is cheap.
7 Wrote:Nigel Incubator-Jones Wrote:Britt Davis is the most overrated and overhyped player to grace DeKalb in my 27 years of following NIU football. What this team needs is for the OTHER receivers to step up. I've grown tired of waiting on the enigmatic Davis.
That looks a lot like post #5.
Along with many others. He makes the same 3 or 4 points over and over and over and over, just restating it in slightly different ways. It's really old and tired.
Nigel Incubator-Jones Wrote:Britt Davis is the most overrated and overhyped player to grace DeKalb in my 27 years of following NIU football. What this team needs is for the OTHER receivers to step up. I've grown tired of waiting on the enigmatic Davis.
Do you only like backup players?
klake87 Wrote:TheNEWguy Wrote:klake87 Wrote:rabidawg900 Wrote:Well, here's an interesting quote from today's Chronicle:
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/...orts02.txt
Quote:He and fellow senior wideout Matt Simon caught 300 passes per day. Davis stepped into a film room in the summer for the first time in his career. He sees himself as a wideout who can make plays on a consistent basis now.
What the F!!! Since he is a senior and probably wants to play pro ball, now he decides it is time to work hard. It is like the contact lenses. I don't expect him to be that much improved. He is not talented enough to just turn it on when he wants too.
I think this season he is honestly making an all out effort. Sounds like in the past he thought he could jog out there and make plays. We shall see if this effort pays off, or if he wasted his talent.
But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, he is trying to improve, so I think he should. No one can deny his physical skills.
I don't. Evidently, he is not a hard worker. If he was, he would have been busting his a$$ since Freshman year. I don't think, that in your senior year, you can get desire. We will see when he steps on the field but talk is cheap.
Sam Hurd says hi. First of all I don't believe the article for a second that it was the first time he ever watched film, not one part of me believes that. However if he did, and still managed to produce the way he did his freshman and sophmore season, I can't wait to see what he does now that he is a "hard worker."
I don't believe the article, though.
7 Wrote:klake87 Wrote:TheNEWguy Wrote:klake87 Wrote:rabidawg900 Wrote:Well, here's an interesting quote from today's Chronicle:
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/...orts02.txt
Quote:He and fellow senior wideout Matt Simon caught 300 passes per day. Davis stepped into a film room in the summer for the first time in his career. He sees himself as a wideout who can make plays on a consistent basis now.
What the F!!! Since he is a senior and probably wants to play pro ball, now he decides it is time to work hard. It is like the contact lenses. I don't expect him to be that much improved. He is not talented enough to just turn it on when he wants too.
I think this season he is honestly making an all out effort. Sounds like in the past he thought he could jog out there and make plays. We shall see if this effort pays off, or if he wasted his talent.
But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, he is trying to improve, so I think he should. No one can deny his physical skills.
I don't. Evidently, he is not a hard worker. If he was, he would have been busting his a$$ since Freshman year. I don't think, that in your senior year, you can get desire. We will see when he steps on the field but talk is cheap.
Sam Hurd says hi. First of all I don't believe the article for a second that it was the first time he ever watched film, not one part of me believes that. However if he did, and still managed to produce the way he did his freshman and sophmore season, I can't wait to see what he does now that he is a "hard worker."
I don't believe the article, though.
I think you guys might be interpreting the passage in the article wrong... I believe they pointed out that it's the first time he's watched film in the SUMMER... as in re-watching and evaluating his own technique (what worked and what didn't work from his previous seasons) during the June-July months.
It's essentially mandatory that every player at that level watch scouting video of their opponents in addition to reviewing their own actions with the position coaches every week during the season, but the coaching staff can't force players into the film room over the summer.
I agree that Britt's performance over the years has been frustratingly inconsistent, but we've got guys on this board talking about how much video they watched in HS...did you watch 8 1/2 hours of vid a week during the SUMMER? You honestly think he's never watched vid before?
It's absolutely discussable in this forum that he may or may not have work ethic issues, but in my opinion I think you guys are just a weeee off on what the article meant.
mj010 Wrote:7 Wrote:klake87 Wrote:TheNEWguy Wrote:klake87 Wrote:rabidawg900 Wrote:Well, here's an interesting quote from today's Chronicle:
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/...orts02.txt
Quote:He and fellow senior wideout Matt Simon caught 300 passes per day. Davis stepped into a film room in the summer for the first time in his career. He sees himself as a wideout who can make plays on a consistent basis now.
What the F!!! Since he is a senior and probably wants to play pro ball, now he decides it is time to work hard. It is like the contact lenses. I don't expect him to be that much improved. He is not talented enough to just turn it on when he wants too.
I think this season he is honestly making an all out effort. Sounds like in the past he thought he could jog out there and make plays. We shall see if this effort pays off, or if he wasted his talent.
But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, he is trying to improve, so I think he should. No one can deny his physical skills.
I don't. Evidently, he is not a hard worker. If he was, he would have been busting his a$$ since Freshman year. I don't think, that in your senior year, you can get desire. We will see when he steps on the field but talk is cheap.
Sam Hurd says hi. First of all I don't believe the article for a second that it was the first time he ever watched film, not one part of me believes that. However if he did, and still managed to produce the way he did his freshman and sophmore season, I can't wait to see what he does now that he is a "hard worker."
I don't believe the article, though.
I think you guys might be interpreting the passage in the article wrong... I believe they pointed out that it's the first time he's watched film in the SUMMER... as in re-watching and evaluating his own technique (what worked and what didn't work from his previous seasons) during the June-July months.
It's essentially mandatory that every player at that level watch scouting video of their opponents in addition to reviewing their own actions with the position coaches every week during the season, but the coaching staff can't force players into the film room over the summer.
I agree that Britt's performance over the years has been frustratingly inconsistent, but we've got guys on this board talking about how much video they watched in HS...did you watch 8 1/2 hours of vid a week during the SUMMER? You honestly think he's never watched vid before?
It's absolutely discussable in this forum that he may or may not have work ethic issues, but in my opinion I think you guys are just a weeee off on what the article meant.
That sounds more believable.
britt davis is overrated.. oh wait, someone already said that. ill say that i hope that kill got in his grill this summer and gave him the straight up skinny - you are talented but you are probably the worst #1 WR in the MAC.