Lynch and Ward were the guys last year. No obvious candidates jump out at me for this year's team. Many of the seniors seem like soft spoken guys. Who among them is a leader? Thoughts? Also I saw a tweet from a player, not saying who, that complained about guys not going hard this offseason. That's troubling if true, and possibly symptomatic of a lack of leadership.

i hope someone steps up. I think Bobby Jones will end up being a great leader but hes young so he might be a year or 2 out for that

On D I'd say Bass needs to be the guy.

On O. Umm...as 1981 points out most of the "veterans" seem "soft-spoken". Akeem...TLL....

Maybe someone on the OL?

It is a good question. After scouring the to be Seniors, no one really jumps out.

I have a feeling this year is going to be rougher than many think. Id be happy with a .500 finish.

(02-24-2014 06:14 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I have a feeling this year is going to be rougher than many think. Id be happy with a .500 finish.

i dont think i can ever say i'd be happy w a .500 finish at NIU anymore. we've raised the bar, players come and go and you have to reload year in and year out to be considered a great program. i think we are there after the past decade's performance. A .500 finish would be extremely disappointing in my eyes. Im expecting more around 8-4

Prediction: Week 4 everyone is saying how the HELL did we land three studs in a row at QB. That McIntosh is the new MAC Daddy! We then go back to old threads of a dude posting I am hoping for .500 winning percentage and call him a ghoon......Or we go into a Central Michigan style slump for several years. Time will tell, but I sure hope we keep momentum with at least an 8-4 record

Tyler Loos if he comes back. Fits the role perfectly.

(02-24-2014 08:59 PM)JB04 Wrote:  Prediction: Week 4 everyone is saying how the HELL did we land three studs in a row at QB. That McIntosh is the new MAC Daddy! We then go back to old threads of a dude posting I am hoping for .500 winning percentage and call him a ghoon......Or we go into a Central Michigan style slump for several years. Time will tell, but I sure hope we keep momentum with at least an 8-4 record

Ill be anxious to see what McIntosh can do, but do you guys feel really good that he is the type of QB that can lead NIU to a MAC championship. That seems like a stretch at this point.

(02-24-2014 06:19 PM)NIU32 Wrote:  

(02-24-2014 06:14 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  I have a feeling this year is going to be rougher than many think. Id be happy with a .500 finish.

i dont think i can ever say i'd be happy w a .500 finish at NIU anymore. we've raised the bar, players come and go and you have to reload year in and year out to be considered a great program. i think we are there after the past decade's performance. A .500 finish would be extremely disappointing in my eyes. Im expecting more around 8-4

The bar has been raised, but I think that bar should be measured over 2 to 4 periods at a time. Not many programs are immune to the rebuild year, and just looking at the near complete rebuild on defense, no clear outstanding QB candidates that are mature enough to start right away, lack of a true RB, playing a ridiculous non-conf road schedule, seems pretty stacked at anything more than a .500 expectation. Of course, I hope I eat these words.

MD, most of your concerns are valid...but this "lack of a true RB"...the least of our worries is RB in my opinion.

Durante and Bass are the obvious guys on defense. Both 4 year starters.

(02-25-2014 10:09 AM)7 Wrote:  Durante and Bass are the obvious guys on defense. Both 4 year starters.

On you O side...

Akeem/TLL/Loos

(02-24-2014 11:12 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-24-2014 08:59 PM)JB04 Wrote:  Prediction: Week 4 everyone is saying how the HELL did we land three studs in a row at QB. That McIntosh is the new MAC Daddy! We then go back to old threads of a dude posting I am hoping for .500 winning percentage and call him a ghoon......Or we go into a Central Michigan style slump for several years. Time will tell, but I sure hope we keep momentum with at least an 8-4 record

Ill be anxious to see what McIntosh can do, but do you guys feel really good that he is the type of QB that can lead NIU to a MAC championship. That seems like a stretch at this point.

McIntosh should be the leader. It comes with the position. BGSU had a first year starter at QB last year. We have not seen much of McIntosh outside of the spring game and some garbage time. I remember there were special Lynch plays that the Huskies would run when Harnish was still the starter, so we had more of a preview of Lynch than we have of McIntosh.

Outside of Lynch, most of the Huskie offense starters are back next year, so unless McIntosh (and Hare) really stinks it up, the Huskie offense should still put plenty of points on the board.

The defense needs to grow.

I wonder who of the QBs in the running is the best leader?

I'm not sure how anybody could say they're just hoping for a .500 record. The offense is going to tear people apart this year. It'll take a bit of a step back, but a very small step back.

I have full confidence one of McIntosh/Maddie/Hare will be able to run the ball effectively and throw screens/outs with the occasional deep ball mixed in. This isn't the Patriots offense. It's an ungodly QB friendly system.

(02-25-2014 10:14 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-25-2014 10:09 AM)7 Wrote:  Durante and Bass are the obvious guys on defense. Both 4 year starters.

On you O side...

Akeem/TLL/Loos

After the bad taste left in their mouth at the end of last year, if the seniors aren't stepping up and becoming leaders, we have issues.

I'm not sure there's a better motivator than that.

Brown has leader potential

(02-25-2014 11:23 AM)7 Wrote:  I'm not sure how anybody could say they're just hoping for a .500 record. The offense is going to tear people apart this year. It'll take a bit of a step back, but a very small step back.

I have full confidence one of McIntosh/Maddie/Hare will be able to run the ball effectively and throw screens/outs with the occasional deep ball mixed in. This isn't the Patriots offense. It's an ungodly QB friendly system.

This years offense will look more like the Harnish years. Harnish made great decisions. Last two years, Lynch had confidence in himself to make plays and so did the coaches. I think the RBs will have more carries than the QB. Lynch called his number alot.

(02-25-2014 12:12 PM)PrideinthePack Wrote:  Brown has leader potential

That is my guess too. At the MACC when he wasn't playing he was on the sideline trying to talk/coach up some of the players (it looked like anyways). Played QB in high school so I'm sure he has some of that leadership/able to direct people type attitude.

As for the offense this year I don't think we are going to miss a beat and be much deeper at the WR and RB positions.