37 degrees and bright sun.  Lite wind.  The sun kept us warm but the temps reminded me of mid-November as most wore winter clothes.
10AM start to practice.   2 to 3 hundred fans showed up.  Largest crowd by far.  Another round of recruits showed up as well as families waiting for the post-practice Easter egg hunt.

This thread could also be titled "Billy Dozier sends a message" or something clever like that.  Let me get my notes out and I'll recap the last 4 Saturday practices and Dozier in particular.

Tucker no pads today but doing warmup drills nonetheless.  Splint on one hand.  He looks much more built than his Fr. year.  

Practice starts with Jugs machine sending punts into the mid-field air with the Bigs waiting to catch 1.  The wind kept pushing the ball away and about 7 failed until #69 Nolan Potter finally caught 1.  Win for the offense.  (I apologize if it was someone else but hard to see the number cause the offense mobbed him as they ran to the endzone to celebrate).

Hampton in street clothes again as announced last week.  Should be back in summer. Blakemore back at RB.
Sam Robertson (28), Jeremiah Howard (38) and Ty Myles (13) in street clothes also for the D.

Drills start up and CJ Brown has a sideline PBU in 6 on 7 drills.Trayvon drops a pass behind the LB level.  That doesn't happen much.
6 on 6 and Thornton breaks a long TD on the seam route.
Dozier breaks a big run to outside.  Great blocks.
Team practicing hurry-up/quick lining up to run plays and keep D scrambling.  Working on getting team in right spots.Rocky gets Dline offsides. 
Def. blitz a couple of times in the early session.

Kickers take over and practice 4-5 FGs each. Richardson goes first and connects on all with the longest being 45 yards.  Not the prettiest of kicks but I'll take 100% everyday of the week.
Woodill then go on to show off his leg strength.  He hits all 4 of his and the longest about 43 yards.  His kicks were all crushed with a couple of close up ones hitting the scoreboard with a thud.  Hammock doing a great job of having depth here and most positions.  

Offense lines up in endzone with ball on the 2 yard line.  With a great block on LB/S Dozier finds some room.  Cuts hard losing the last defender and takes off for the extra long TD.  Both the block and the run were special.

Offense resets on 25 yard line and get illegal shift back to 30.  Dozier another big run to 5.  Next run by Dozier is stuffed as D as they focused on run.  So what does O do?  Next play QB keeper by Lomax.  Easy TD.

Offensive tempo now slows down.Trayvon with good hands catch.  D coverage was good.
Harry with 10 yd TD. Harry runs for 2 pt conversion but is "tagged" short.  Looks like he relaxes and the ball is funbled and collected by D.  Harry is wearing red "do not tackle" jersey again so it looks like D just needs to tag him for the tackle.  Either way conversion failed.

Punting practice is next.  Foley has nice hang-time and kicks go longer with each punt. Dozier shows he needs to improve on something as he drops a punt.


Back to scrimmage and someone on D blows up Blakemore on a run.  Next play Blakemore runs over a defender.  Energy picks up.
Then Dozier does it again.  Jukes and outruns defense on right side for 55 yard TD.  Fans in stands start taking notice.
QB rollout and Rocky with 10 yard fiip of ball to Cassens.  Nice play.
With Defense tired of Dozier showing them up Valcarcel takes him down hard after 3 yard run.
Offensive line was winning today and Dozier was able to take advantage of his opportunities.  He really shined again today.
Practice ended 20 minutes short and the cold weather limited my ability to take notes so apologies for the shorter page.

Hammock was giving out spring practice jerseys and then some special awards Tshirts.  Hard to hear but Ryan King and Jalonnie Williams were MIP, most improved players on D for the spring and no surprise Billy Dozier MIP for offense.
George Gumbs and Ryan King were awarded scholarships (reported that Lampe got 1 also but was hard to hear thru cheers).Gumbs started to show that he makes plays as TE.  I look forward to his growth.  Too hard to focus on both O and D so I can't comment on King.
Last was Easter Egg hunt for kids, players signing autographs and recruiting visits.

Spring practices recap:
OFFENSE
Last year I couldn't tell if the offense was so good or the defense so bad.  Well it turns out it was both.This year I have good news.  The offense could be even better.  The Oline has a chance to be a year better with only Nygra being the new center.  Losing their top WR from last year is buoyed by 2 strong WRs starters.  Let's look at positions and depth at this point in spring.

QB- Rocky is #1 and there is no QB controversy.  He is mature and quite possibly the best QB for NIU in years.  He has arm strength, is hard to bring down and smart, perhaps smarter than last year.  Coach has given Rocky the keys to the car and he directs the team to be in the right spots.

#2 is Lomax and he improved the more reps he was given.  While I hope we don't see him this year he is in the mix to play in the future.  Big and athletic are his strong suits.  Needs more reps for the mental part of the game (Don't all QBs?)

#3 Lynch.  He improved throughout as well.  He throws a surprisingly tight spiral and has a strong arm.  I'll mention that he is shorter than the other QBs just for comparison.  This may not be an issue ultimately.  He didn't get as many reps as Lomax.

#4 Fletcher just didn't get reps to lead the team.  Made improvements to his throwing motion as noted by others.  He no longer "signals" that he is about to throw, his motion is more fluid.  He is just stuck in a deep QB room.    
Hampton is the sideline signal caller for most of the practices.  I assume he is injured.  No idea where he fits in the lineup above.  He was #2 last year and his lone late-season start was not strong, in fact it was poor.  I won't hold that against him as the team was exhausted by that game and mentally seemed off.  Wonder how Hammock will approach the QBs come summer.  My only guess is what I've seen before, he will let him compete and maybe he could regain his #2 spot.

RB- Waylee is #1  Nothing to worry about here.  He looks bigger than last year and while he didn't break as many long runs this spring, I attribute that to the improved D.

#2 Dozier.   OK hear me out.   He gives the team something the other RBs don't, shiftiness.  He is a change of pace guy.  Not the biggest or strongest but makes guys miss.  Hits homeruns.  At first I thought he might be a gimmick because he was a WR playing RB but the more reps he got the more he took advantage.  He was the surprise for the offense this spring.  Credit Ham on finding guys with ability and getting them in the right spot.  I'm not sure if he will stay #2 by fall but that is where he is at now.

#3 Blakemore only because he was hurt the last couple of weeks.  Not sure when he came back as I've only seen Saturday practices.  Last year Blakemore came from deep in the depth chart to playing time.  His first "moment" was a juked TD that left the defender's jock on the field and my jaw on the ground.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen more plays like that.  I'm not at every practice so maybe I just am missing his homeruns.  Last year stats were pedestrian. Looking for an improvement.

A Brown.  Slight concern that Brown has been hurt last year and now spring.  Hammock says, "Best ability is availability."  If this holds true Brown may have an issue in getting carries.  I love watching him run.  Just haven't seen it last 3 weeks.

Expect this RB group to catch passes this year. This will be part of the offense.

Brock Lampe is 1 supremely built looking FB.  He is finding a role in the backfield and even had a pass play or 2.(I recall 2 top RBs come in summer)

TE Joiner is #1 and can catch.  Tewes and Soraghan have made some plays but may not force other teams to stop them.  Gumbs has shown up on the radar and has a chance to be a nice receiving TE.  Can't comment on blocking but that will be the major part of being a good NIU TE.

WR
Trayvon and Tucker will be solid and lead the group.  McCray had another couple catches today. There seems to be so many WRs who can catch.  Watching WR drills each and everyone of the WRs  caught the ball with their hands.  Didn't let ball get to chest.  This seems to be an emphasis and the team looks improved.Last year Messiah Travis stood out in practices.  This year all the other WRs seem to be grouped together.  Toure, McCray, Travis, Antoine, new-comer Thorton.   Not sure how to rank any of these outside the top 2.  Maybe McCray has the edge to be on 3 WR sets.

DEFENSE
More good news.  The defense has improved.  I didn't see too many mental break downs  One example is the number of blitzes/rushes I observed has increased.  This means the coaches trust the players more.  They understand their roles and now can be less predictable.  Growth.

If the defense makes it to a mediocre level or even good then NIU will be hard to beat.  I know the D coaches preached turnovers. I didn't see many the last 2 practices.  I did see several pass breakups and they are getting pressure/sacks on the QB at times.  The best part is that I'm seeing the D slow down the offense at times.  Plus the energy the defense is bringing is contagious.  Looks like they are having fun, playing hard and are smarter than a year ago. 

Last year Lafayette was simply outstanding in practice.  His injury last year was devastating to that group.  I'm hoping that he can return to that level.  I didn't see him making plays this spring but word from Coach Ham is that he is doing well. 

I'm seeing new names come up often but was frozen today trying to record so forgive me for being light in this area.  If others have comments on the D and what they saw in practices I'd appreciate the conversation

Summer may provide another surprise or 2.  Will be fun when it comes. This team is pretty solid at this point with injuries a concern but plenty of time for healing.   (I'm going to have to find something else to do on my Saturdays, lol)

TEAMDUH

(04-16-2022 07:21 PM)Teamduh Wrote:  37 degrees and bright sun.  Lite wind.  The sun kept us warm but the temps reminded me of mid-November as most wore winter clothes.
10AM start to practice.   2 to 3 hundred fans showed up.  Largest crowd by far.  Another round of recruits showed up as well as families waiting for the post-practice Easter egg hunt.

This thread could also be titled "Billy Dozier sends a message" or something clever like that.  Let me get my notes out and I'll recap the last 4 Saturday practices and Dozier in particular.

Tucker no pads today but doing warmup drills nonetheless.  Splint on one hand.  He looks much more built than his Fr. year.  

Practice starts with Jugs machine sending punts into the mid-field air with the Bigs waiting to catch 1.  The wind kept pushing the ball away and about 7 failed until #69 Nolan Potter finally caught 1.  Win for the offense.  (I apologize if it was someone else but hard to see the number cause the offense mobbed him as they ran to the endzone to celebrate).

Hampton in street clothes again as announced last week.  Should be back in summer. Blakemore back at RB.
Sam Robertson (28), Jeremiah Howard (38) and Ty Myles (13) in street clothes also for the D.

Drills start up and CJ Brown has a sideline PBU in 6 on 7 drills.Trayvon drops a pass behind the LB level.  That doesn't happen much.
6 on 6 and Thornton breaks a long TD on the seam route.
Dozier breaks a big run to outside.  Great blocks.
Team practicing hurry-up/quick lining up to run plays and keep D scrambling.  Working on getting team in right spots.Rocky gets Dline offsides. 
Def. blitz a couple of times in the early session.

Kickers take over and practice 4-5 FGs each. Richardson goes first and connects on all with the longest being 45 yards.  Not the prettiest of kicks but I'll take 100% everyday of the week.
Woodill then go on to show off his leg strength.  He hits all 4 of his and the longest about 43 yards.  His kicks were all crushed with a couple of close up ones hitting the scoreboard with a thud.  Hammock doing a great job of having depth here and most positions.  

Offense lines up in endzone with ball on the 2 yard line.  With a great block on LB/S Dozier finds some room.  Cuts hard losing the last defender and takes off for the extra long TD.  Both the block and the run were special.

Offense resets on 25 yard line and get illegal shift back to 30.  Dozier another big run to 5.  Next run by Dozier is stuffed as D as they focused on run.  So what does O do?  Next play QB keeper by Lomax.  Easy TD.

Offensive tempo now slows down.Trayvon with good hands catch.  D coverage was good.
Harry with 10 yd TD. Harry runs for 2 pt conversion but is "tagged" short.  Looks like he relaxes and the ball is funbled and collected by D.  Harry is wearing red "do not tackle" jersey again so it looks like D just needs to tag him for the tackle.  Either way conversion failed.

Punting practice is next.  Foley has nice hang-time and kicks go longer with each punt. Dozier shows he needs to improve on something as he drops a punt.


Back to scrimmage and someone on D blows up Blakemore on a run.  Next play Blakemore runs over a defender.  Energy picks up.
Then Dozier does it again.  Jukes and outruns defense on right side for 55 yard TD.  Fans in stands start taking notice.
QB rollout and Rocky with 10 yard fiip of ball to Cassens.  Nice play.
With Defense tired of Dozier showing them up Valcarcel takes him down hard after 3 yard run.
Offensive line was winning today and Dozier was able to take advantage of his opportunities.  He really shined again today.
Practice ended 20 minutes short and the cold weather limited my ability to take notes so apologies for the shorter page.

Hammock was giving out spring practice jerseys and then some special awards Tshirts.  Hard to hear but Ryan King and Jalonnie Williams were MIP, most improved players on D for the spring and no surprise Billy Dozier MIP for offense.
George Gumbs and Ryan King were awarded scholarships (reported that Lampe got 1 also but was hard to hear thru cheers).Gumbs started to show that he makes plays as TE.  I look forward to his growth.  Too hard to focus on both O and D so I can't comment on King.
Last was Easter Egg hunt for kids, players signing autographs and recruiting visits.

Spring practices recap:
OFFENSE
Last year I couldn't tell if the offense was so good or the defense so bad.  Well it turns out it was both.This year I have good news.  The offense could be even better.  The Oline has a chance to be a year better with only Nygra being the new center.  Losing their top WR from last year is buoyed by 2 strong WRs starters.  Let's look at positions and depth at this point in spring.

QB- Rocky is #1 and there is no QB controversy.  He is mature and quite possibly the best QB for NIU in years.  He has arm strength, is hard to bring down and smart, perhaps smarter than last year.  Coach has given Rocky the keys to the car and he directs the team to be in the right spots.

#2 is Lomax and he improved the more reps he was given.  While I hope we don't see him this year he is in the mix to play in the future.  Big and athletic are his strong suits.  Needs more reps for the mental part of the game (Don't all QBs?)

#3 Lynch.  He improved throughout as well.  He throws a surprisingly tight spiral and has a strong arm.  I'll mention that he is shorter than the other QBs just for comparison.  This may not be an issue ultimately.  He didn't get as many reps as Lomax.

#4 Fletcher just didn't get reps to lead the team.  Made improvements to his throwing motion as noted by others.  He no longer "signals" that he is about to throw, his motion is more fluid.  He is just stuck in a deep QB room.    
Hampton is the sideline signal caller for most of the practices.  I assume he is injured.  No idea where he fits in the lineup above.  He was #2 last year and his lone late-season start was not strong, in fact it was poor.  I won't hold that against him as the team was exhausted by that game and mentally seemed off.  Wonder how Hammock will approach the QBs come summer.  My only guess is what I've seen before, he will let him compete and maybe he could regain his #2 spot.

RB- Waylee is #1  Nothing to worry about here.  He looks bigger than last year and while he didn't break as many long runs this spring, I attribute that to the improved D.

#2 Dozier.   OK hear me out.   He gives the team something the other RBs don't, shiftiness.  He is a change of pace guy.  Not the biggest or strongest but makes guys miss.  Hits homeruns.  At first I thought he might be a gimmick because he was a WR playing RB but the more reps he got the more he took advantage.  He was the surprise for the offense this spring.  Credit Ham on finding guys with ability and getting them in the right spot.  I'm not sure if he will stay #2 by fall but that is where he is at now.

#3 Blakemore only because he was hurt the last couple of weeks.  Not sure when he came back as I've only seen Saturday practices.  Last year Blakemore came from deep in the depth chart to playing time.  His first "moment" was a juked TD that left the defender's jock on the field and my jaw on the ground.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen more plays like that.  I'm not at every practice so maybe I just am missing his homeruns.  Last year stats were pedestrian. Looking for an improvement.

A Brown.  Slight concern that Brown has been hurt last year and now spring.  Hammock says, "Best ability is availability."  If this holds true Brown may have an issue in getting carries.  I love watching him run.  Just haven't seen it last 3 weeks.

Expect this RB group to catch passes this year. This will be part of the offense.

Brock Lampe is 1 supremely built looking FB.  He is finding a role in the backfield and even had a pass play or 2.(I recall 2 top RBs come in summer)

TE Joiner is #1 and can catch.  Tewes and Soraghan have made some plays but may not force other teams to stop them.  Gumbs has shown up on the radar and has a chance to be a nice receiving TE.  Can't comment on blocking but that will be the major part of being a good NIU TE.

WR
Trayvon and Tucker will be solid and lead the group.  McCray had another couple catches today.There seems to be some many WRs who can catch.  Watching WR drills each and everyone of the WRs  caught the ball with their hands.  Didn't let ball get to chest.  This seems to be an emphasis and the team looks improved.Last year Messiah Travis stood out in practices.  This year all the other WRs seem to be grouped together.  Toure, McCray, Travis, Antoine, new-comer Thorton.   Not sure how to rank any of these outside the top 2.  Maybe McCray has the edge to be on 3 WR sets.

DEFENSE
More good news.  The defense has improved.  I didn't see too many mental break downs  One example is the number of blitzes/rushes I observed has increased.  This means the coaches trust the players more.  They understand their roles and now can be less predictable.  Growth.

If the defense makes it to a mediocre level or even good then NIU will be hard to beat.  I know the D coaches preached turnovers. I didn't see many the last 2 practices.  I did see several pass breakups and they are getting pressure/sacks on the QB at times.  The best part is that I'm seeing the D slow down the offense at times.  Plus the energy the defense is bringing is contagious.  Looks like they are having fun, playing hard and are smarter than a year ago. 

Last year Lafayette was simply outstanding in practice.  His injury last year was devastating to that group.  I'm hoping that he can return to that level.  I didn't see him making plays this spring but word from Coach Ham is that he is doing well. 

I'm seeing new names come up often but was frozen today trying to record so forgive me for being light in this area.  If others have comments on the D and what they saw in practices I'd appreciate the conversation

Summer may provide another surprise or 2.  Will be fun when it comes. This team is pretty solid at this point with injuries a concern but plenty of time for healing.   (I'm going to have to find something else to do on my Saturdays, lol)

TEAMDUH

Thanks for the write up!

Coaches seem high on Dolphin and Rayner as the outside backers. Was curious if you saw any of the linebackers show up in your visits to practice.

Thanks again, great write up!

I was anxiously waiting for your recap. As always great write up! Can’t wait til fall. Barring injuries this team can make some noise nationally.

(04-16-2022 07:21 PM)Teamduh Wrote:  37 degrees and bright sun.  Lite wind.  The sun kept us warm but the temps reminded me of mid-November as most wore winter clothes.
10AM start to practice.   2 to 3 hundred fans showed up.  Largest crowd by far.  Another round of recruits showed up as well as families waiting for the post-practice Easter egg hunt.

This thread could also be titled "Billy Dozier sends a message" or something clever like that.  Let me get my notes out and I'll recap the last 4 Saturday practices and Dozier in particular.

Tucker no pads today but doing warmup drills nonetheless.  Splint on one hand.  He looks much more built than his Fr. year.  

Practice starts with Jugs machine sending punts into the mid-field air with the Bigs waiting to catch 1.  The wind kept pushing the ball away and about 7 failed until #69 Nolan Potter finally caught 1.  Win for the offense.  (I apologize if it was someone else but hard to see the number cause the offense mobbed him as they ran to the endzone to celebrate).

Hampton in street clothes again as announced last week.  Should be back in summer. Blakemore back at RB.
Sam Robertson (28), Jeremiah Howard (38) and Ty Myles (13) in street clothes also for the D.

Drills start up and CJ Brown has a sideline PBU in 6 on 7 drills.Trayvon drops a pass behind the LB level.  That doesn't happen much.
6 on 6 and Thornton breaks a long TD on the seam route.
Dozier breaks a big run to outside.  Great blocks.
Team practicing hurry-up/quick lining up to run plays and keep D scrambling.  Working on getting team in right spots.Rocky gets Dline offsides. 
Def. blitz a couple of times in the early session.

Kickers take over and practice 4-5 FGs each. Richardson goes first and connects on all with the longest being 45 yards.  Not the prettiest of kicks but I'll take 100% everyday of the week.
Woodill then go on to show off his leg strength.  He hits all 4 of his and the longest about 43 yards.  His kicks were all crushed with a couple of close up ones hitting the scoreboard with a thud.  Hammock doing a great job of having depth here and most positions.  

Offense lines up in endzone with ball on the 2 yard line.  With a great block on LB/S Dozier finds some room.  Cuts hard losing the last defender and takes off for the extra long TD.  Both the block and the run were special.

Offense resets on 25 yard line and get illegal shift back to 30.  Dozier another big run to 5.  Next run by Dozier is stuffed as D as they focused on run.  So what does O do?  Next play QB keeper by Lomax.  Easy TD.

Offensive tempo now slows down.Trayvon with good hands catch.  D coverage was good.
Harry with 10 yd TD. Harry runs for 2 pt conversion but is "tagged" short.  Looks like he relaxes and the ball is funbled and collected by D.  Harry is wearing red "do not tackle" jersey again so it looks like D just needs to tag him for the tackle.  Either way conversion failed.

Punting practice is next.  Foley has nice hang-time and kicks go longer with each punt. Dozier shows he needs to improve on something as he drops a punt.


Back to scrimmage and someone on D blows up Blakemore on a run.  Next play Blakemore runs over a defender.  Energy picks up.
Then Dozier does it again.  Jukes and outruns defense on right side for 55 yard TD.  Fans in stands start taking notice.
QB rollout and Rocky with 10 yard fiip of ball to Cassens.  Nice play.
With Defense tired of Dozier showing them up Valcarcel takes him down hard after 3 yard run.
Offensive line was winning today and Dozier was able to take advantage of his opportunities.  He really shined again today.
Practice ended 20 minutes short and the cold weather limited my ability to take notes so apologies for the shorter page.

Hammock was giving out spring practice jerseys and then some special awards Tshirts.  Hard to hear but Ryan King and Jalonnie Williams were MIP, most improved players on D for the spring and no surprise Billy Dozier MIP for offense.
George Gumbs and Ryan King were awarded scholarships (reported that Lampe got 1 also but was hard to hear thru cheers).Gumbs started to show that he makes plays as TE.  I look forward to his growth.  Too hard to focus on both O and D so I can't comment on King.
Last was Easter Egg hunt for kids, players signing autographs and recruiting visits.

Spring practices recap:
OFFENSE
Last year I couldn't tell if the offense was so good or the defense so bad.  Well it turns out it was both.This year I have good news.  The offense could be even better.  The Oline has a chance to be a year better with only Nygra being the new center.  Losing their top WR from last year is buoyed by 2 strong WRs starters.  Let's look at positions and depth at this point in spring.

QB- Rocky is #1 and there is no QB controversy.  He is mature and quite possibly the best QB for NIU in years.  He has arm strength, is hard to bring down and smart, perhaps smarter than last year.  Coach has given Rocky the keys to the car and he directs the team to be in the right spots.

#2 is Lomax and he improved the more reps he was given.  While I hope we don't see him this year he is in the mix to play in the future.  Big and athletic are his strong suits.  Needs more reps for the mental part of the game (Don't all QBs?)

#3 Lynch.  He improved throughout as well.  He throws a surprisingly tight spiral and has a strong arm.  I'll mention that he is shorter than the other QBs just for comparison.  This may not be an issue ultimately.  He didn't get as many reps as Lomax.

#4 Fletcher just didn't get reps to lead the team.  Made improvements to his throwing motion as noted by others.  He no longer "signals" that he is about to throw, his motion is more fluid.  He is just stuck in a deep QB room.    
Hampton is the sideline signal caller for most of the practices.  I assume he is injured.  No idea where he fits in the lineup above.  He was #2 last year and his lone late-season start was not strong, in fact it was poor.  I won't hold that against him as the team was exhausted by that game and mentally seemed off.  Wonder how Hammock will approach the QBs come summer.  My only guess is what I've seen before, he will let him compete and maybe he could regain his #2 spot.

RB- Waylee is #1  Nothing to worry about here.  He looks bigger than last year and while he didn't break as many long runs this spring, I attribute that to the improved D.

#2 Dozier.   OK hear me out.   He gives the team something the other RBs don't, shiftiness.  He is a change of pace guy.  Not the biggest or strongest but makes guys miss.  Hits homeruns.  At first I thought he might be a gimmick because he was a WR playing RB but the more reps he got the more he took advantage.  He was the surprise for the offense this spring.  Credit Ham on finding guys with ability and getting them in the right spot.  I'm not sure if he will stay #2 by fall but that is where he is at now.

#3 Blakemore only because he was hurt the last couple of weeks.  Not sure when he came back as I've only seen Saturday practices.  Last year Blakemore came from deep in the depth chart to playing time.  His first "moment" was a juked TD that left the defender's jock on the field and my jaw on the ground.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen more plays like that.  I'm not at every practice so maybe I just am missing his homeruns.  Last year stats were pedestrian. Looking for an improvement.

A Brown.  Slight concern that Brown has been hurt last year and now spring.  Hammock says, "Best ability is availability."  If this holds true Brown may have an issue in getting carries.  I love watching him run.  Just haven't seen it last 3 weeks.

Expect this RB group to catch passes this year. This will be part of the offense.

Brock Lampe is 1 supremely built looking FB.  He is finding a role in the backfield and even had a pass play or 2.(I recall 2 top RBs come in summer)

TE Joiner is #1 and can catch.  Tewes and Soraghan have made some plays but may not force other teams to stop them.  Gumbs has shown up on the radar and has a chance to be a nice receiving TE.  Can't comment on blocking but that will be the major part of being a good NIU TE.

WR
Trayvon and Tucker will be solid and lead the group.  McCray had another couple catches today.There seems to be some many WRs who can catch.  Watching WR drills each and everyone of the WRs  caught the ball with their hands.  Didn't let ball get to chest.  This seems to be an emphasis and the team looks improved.Last year Messiah Travis stood out in practices.  This year all the other WRs seem to be grouped together.  Toure, McCray, Travis, Antoine, new-comer Thorton.   Not sure how to rank any of these outside the top 2.  Maybe McCray has the edge to be on 3 WR sets.

DEFENSE
More good news.  The defense has improved.  I didn't see too many mental break downs  One example is the number of blitzes/rushes I observed has increased.  This means the coaches trust the players more.  They understand their roles and now can be less predictable.  Growth.

If the defense makes it to a mediocre level or even good then NIU will be hard to beat.  I know the D coaches preached turnovers. I didn't see many the last 2 practices.  I did see several pass breakups and they are getting pressure/sacks on the QB at times.  The best part is that I'm seeing the D slow down the offense at times.  Plus the energy the defense is bringing is contagious.  Looks like they are having fun, playing hard and are smarter than a year ago. 

Last year Lafayette was simply outstanding in practice.  His injury last year was devastating to that group.  I'm hoping that he can return to that level.  I didn't see him making plays this spring but word from Coach Ham is that he is doing well. 

I'm seeing new names come up often but was frozen today trying to record so forgive me for being light in this area.  If others have comments on the D and what they saw in practices I'd appreciate the conversation

Summer may provide another surprise or 2.  Will be fun when it comes. This team is pretty solid at this point with injuries a concern but plenty of time for healing.   (I'm going to have to find something else to do on my Saturdays, lol)

TEAMDUH

Thank you for the write up, Did you see improvements in the secondary? Anyone stand out from that group?

(04-16-2022 07:21 PM)Teamduh Wrote:  37 degrees and bright sun.  Lite wind.  The sun kept us warm but the temps reminded me of mid-November as most wore winter clothes.
10AM start to practice.   2 to 3 hundred fans showed up.  Largest crowd by far.  Another round of recruits showed up as well as families waiting for the post-practice Easter egg hunt.

This thread could also be titled "Billy Dozier sends a message" or something clever like that.  Let me get my notes out and I'll recap the last 4 Saturday practices and Dozier in particular.

Tucker no pads today but doing warmup drills nonetheless.  Splint on one hand.  He looks much more built than his Fr. year.  

Practice starts with Jugs machine sending punts into the mid-field air with the Bigs waiting to catch 1.  The wind kept pushing the ball away and about 7 failed until #69 Nolan Potter finally caught 1.  Win for the offense.  (I apologize if it was someone else but hard to see the number cause the offense mobbed him as they ran to the endzone to celebrate).

Hampton in street clothes again as announced last week.  Should be back in summer. Blakemore back at RB.
Sam Robertson (28), Jeremiah Howard (38) and Ty Myles (13) in street clothes also for the D.

Drills start up and CJ Brown has a sideline PBU in 6 on 7 drills.Trayvon drops a pass behind the LB level.  That doesn't happen much.
6 on 6 and Thornton breaks a long TD on the seam route.
Dozier breaks a big run to outside.  Great blocks.
Team practicing hurry-up/quick lining up to run plays and keep D scrambling.  Working on getting team in right spots.Rocky gets Dline offsides. 
Def. blitz a couple of times in the early session.

Kickers take over and practice 4-5 FGs each. Richardson goes first and connects on all with the longest being 45 yards.  Not the prettiest of kicks but I'll take 100% everyday of the week.
Woodill then go on to show off his leg strength.  He hits all 4 of his and the longest about 43 yards.  His kicks were all crushed with a couple of close up ones hitting the scoreboard with a thud.  Hammock doing a great job of having depth here and most positions.  

Offense lines up in endzone with ball on the 2 yard line.  With a great block on LB/S Dozier finds some room.  Cuts hard losing the last defender and takes off for the extra long TD.  Both the block and the run were special.

Offense resets on 25 yard line and get illegal shift back to 30.  Dozier another big run to 5.  Next run by Dozier is stuffed as D as they focused on run.  So what does O do?  Next play QB keeper by Lomax.  Easy TD.

Offensive tempo now slows down.Trayvon with good hands catch.  D coverage was good.
Harry with 10 yd TD. Harry runs for 2 pt conversion but is "tagged" short.  Looks like he relaxes and the ball is funbled and collected by D.  Harry is wearing red "do not tackle" jersey again so it looks like D just needs to tag him for the tackle.  Either way conversion failed.

Punting practice is next.  Foley has nice hang-time and kicks go longer with each punt. Dozier shows he needs to improve on something as he drops a punt.


Back to scrimmage and someone on D blows up Blakemore on a run.  Next play Blakemore runs over a defender.  Energy picks up.
Then Dozier does it again.  Jukes and outruns defense on right side for 55 yard TD.  Fans in stands start taking notice.
QB rollout and Rocky with 10 yard fiip of ball to Cassens.  Nice play.
With Defense tired of Dozier showing them up Valcarcel takes him down hard after 3 yard run.
Offensive line was winning today and Dozier was able to take advantage of his opportunities.  He really shined again today.
Practice ended 20 minutes short and the cold weather limited my ability to take notes so apologies for the shorter page.

Hammock was giving out spring practice jerseys and then some special awards Tshirts.  Hard to hear but Ryan King and Jalonnie Williams were MIP, most improved players on D for the spring and no surprise Billy Dozier MIP for offense.
George Gumbs and Ryan King were awarded scholarships (reported that Lampe got 1 also but was hard to hear thru cheers).Gumbs started to show that he makes plays as TE.  I look forward to his growth.  Too hard to focus on both O and D so I can't comment on King.
Last was Easter Egg hunt for kids, players signing autographs and recruiting visits.

Spring practices recap:
OFFENSE
Last year I couldn't tell if the offense was so good or the defense so bad.  Well it turns out it was both.This year I have good news.  The offense could be even better.  The Oline has a chance to be a year better with only Nygra being the new center.  Losing their top WR from last year is buoyed by 2 strong WRs starters.  Let's look at positions and depth at this point in spring.

QB- Rocky is #1 and there is no QB controversy.  He is mature and quite possibly the best QB for NIU in years.  He has arm strength, is hard to bring down and smart, perhaps smarter than last year.  Coach has given Rocky the keys to the car and he directs the team to be in the right spots.

#2 is Lomax and he improved the more reps he was given.  While I hope we don't see him this year he is in the mix to play in the future.  Big and athletic are his strong suits.  Needs more reps for the mental part of the game (Don't all QBs?)

#3 Lynch.  He improved throughout as well.  He throws a surprisingly tight spiral and has a strong arm.  I'll mention that he is shorter than the other QBs just for comparison.  This may not be an issue ultimately.  He didn't get as many reps as Lomax.

#4 Fletcher just didn't get reps to lead the team.  Made improvements to his throwing motion as noted by others.  He no longer "signals" that he is about to throw, his motion is more fluid.  He is just stuck in a deep QB room.    
Hampton is the sideline signal caller for most of the practices.  I assume he is injured.  No idea where he fits in the lineup above.  He was #2 last year and his lone late-season start was not strong, in fact it was poor.  I won't hold that against him as the team was exhausted by that game and mentally seemed off.  Wonder how Hammock will approach the QBs come summer.  My only guess is what I've seen before, he will let him compete and maybe he could regain his #2 spot.

RB- Waylee is #1  Nothing to worry about here.  He looks bigger than last year and while he didn't break as many long runs this spring, I attribute that to the improved D.

#2 Dozier.   OK hear me out.   He gives the team something the other RBs don't, shiftiness.  He is a change of pace guy.  Not the biggest or strongest but makes guys miss.  Hits homeruns.  At first I thought he might be a gimmick because he was a WR playing RB but the more reps he got the more he took advantage.  He was the surprise for the offense this spring.  Credit Ham on finding guys with ability and getting them in the right spot.  I'm not sure if he will stay #2 by fall but that is where he is at now.

#3 Blakemore only because he was hurt the last couple of weeks.  Not sure when he came back as I've only seen Saturday practices.  Last year Blakemore came from deep in the depth chart to playing time.  His first "moment" was a juked TD that left the defender's jock on the field and my jaw on the ground.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen more plays like that.  I'm not at every practice so maybe I just am missing his homeruns.  Last year stats were pedestrian. Looking for an improvement.

A Brown.  Slight concern that Brown has been hurt last year and now spring.  Hammock says, "Best ability is availability."  If this holds true Brown may have an issue in getting carries.  I love watching him run.  Just haven't seen it last 3 weeks.

Expect this RB group to catch passes this year. This will be part of the offense.

Brock Lampe is 1 supremely built looking FB.  He is finding a role in the backfield and even had a pass play or 2.(I recall 2 top RBs come in summer)

TE Joiner is #1 and can catch.  Tewes and Soraghan have made some plays but may not force other teams to stop them.  Gumbs has shown up on the radar and has a chance to be a nice receiving TE.  Can't comment on blocking but that will be the major part of being a good NIU TE.

WR
Trayvon and Tucker will be solid and lead the group.  McCray had another couple catches today.There seems to be some many WRs who can catch.  Watching WR drills each and everyone of the WRs  caught the ball with their hands.  Didn't let ball get to chest.  This seems to be an emphasis and the team looks improved.Last year Messiah Travis stood out in practices.  This year all the other WRs seem to be grouped together.  Toure, McCray, Travis, Antoine, new-comer Thorton.   Not sure how to rank any of these outside the top 2.  Maybe McCray has the edge to be on 3 WR sets.

DEFENSE
More good news.  The defense has improved.  I didn't see too many mental break downs  One example is the number of blitzes/rushes I observed has increased.  This means the coaches trust the players more.  They understand their roles and now can be less predictable.  Growth.

If the defense makes it to a mediocre level or even good then NIU will be hard to beat.  I know the D coaches preached turnovers. I didn't see many the last 2 practices.  I did see several pass breakups and they are getting pressure/sacks on the QB at times.  The best part is that I'm seeing the D slow down the offense at times.  Plus the energy the defense is bringing is contagious.  Looks like they are having fun, playing hard and are smarter than a year ago. 

Last year Lafayette was simply outstanding in practice.  His injury last year was devastating to that group.  I'm hoping that he can return to that level.  I didn't see him making plays this spring but word from Coach Ham is that he is doing well. 

I'm seeing new names come up often but was frozen today trying to record so forgive me for being light in this area.  If others have comments on the D and what they saw in practices I'd appreciate the conversation

Summer may provide another surprise or 2.  Will be fun when it comes. This team is pretty solid at this point with injuries a concern but plenty of time for healing.   (I'm going to have to find something else to do on my Saturdays, lol)

TEAMDUH

I'm reading a novel that's shorter than this recap! Thanks, Teamduh. Gonna be a fun season!

Hammock and his coaching staff are reading Teamduh’s recap with film this morning.

Thanks for the appreciation...glad to enjoy the excitement of Huskie football.

Here is a good link to D awards
https://twitter.com/NIU_Football/status/...qukMw&s=19

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Thanks Teamduh for the recap, like many others really appreciate it.

So fired up for the season. This has the potential to be a real special one.

MACC, Boneyard victories and Top 25 are all possible.

In response to the LB / CB / Def questions. In order to take notes on the Offensive players (not counting Oline) and then jump to next play took all the time especially when they practiced hurry-up.

Only saw 1 blown coverage probably due to a line change where they dropped from 7 defenders to 6 during a drill.

One player on DL kept making plays but he wasn't wearing a number. I didn't record all the other players to determine who it might be so can't comment further.

Overall guys just appear to understand where to be compared to last spring (or some last season to be be honest).

I saw the LBs blitzing and creating havoc.

Sorry, I wish I had more detail for you all but I don't.

Thanks for the update.


#3 Lynch. He improved throughout as well. He throws a surprisingly tight spiral and has a strong arm

I thought the The Young Lynch (not to be confused with Musburger's The Young Marinovich, who he looks similar to in his younger years, or maybe Pete and Pete) had a strong arm in HS. He made some long rather accurate throws like a bullet that I saw in person.

It’s crazy but I may be most excited about the defense this year. Having Lafayette and Pugh back is incredible. The step up we could see in second year players like Brown, Rayner and Nelson could really be something. The D-line, while not dominant, will have now some depth and hold it’s own. I hate wishing summers to go by fast, but damn I wish it was august.

Just comment. Don’t reply please. Makes the thread really long…

(04-17-2022 11:30 AM)badmoonrising13 Wrote:  Just comment. Don’t reply please. Makes the thread really long…

This. Thank you. Please stop “replying” to lengthy posts. Use “new reply”.

(04-17-2022 06:19 AM)HW58 Wrote:  

(04-16-2022 07:21 PM)Teamduh Wrote:  37 degrees and bright sun.  Lite wind.  The sun kept us warm but the temps reminded me of mid-November as most wore winter clothes.
10AM start to practice.   2 to 3 hundred fans showed up.  Largest crowd by far.  Another round of recruits showed up as well as families waiting for the post-practice Easter egg hunt.

This thread could also be titled "Billy Dozier sends a message" or something clever like that.  Let me get my notes out and I'll recap the last 4 Saturday practices and Dozier in particular.

Tucker no pads today but doing warmup drills nonetheless.  Splint on one hand.  He looks much more built than his Fr. year.  

Practice starts with Jugs machine sending punts into the mid-field air with the Bigs waiting to catch 1.  The wind kept pushing the ball away and about 7 failed until #69 Nolan Potter finally caught 1.  Win for the offense.  (I apologize if it was someone else but hard to see the number cause the offense mobbed him as they ran to the endzone to celebrate).

Hampton in street clothes again as announced last week.  Should be back in summer. Blakemore back at RB.
Sam Robertson (28), Jeremiah Howard (38) and Ty Myles (13) in street clothes also for the D.

Drills start up and CJ Brown has a sideline PBU in 6 on 7 drills.Trayvon drops a pass behind the LB level.  That doesn't happen much.
6 on 6 and Thornton breaks a long TD on the seam route.
Dozier breaks a big run to outside.  Great blocks.
Team practicing hurry-up/quick lining up to run plays and keep D scrambling.  Working on getting team in right spots.Rocky gets Dline offsides. 
Def. blitz a couple of times in the early session.

Kickers take over and practice 4-5 FGs each. Richardson goes first and connects on all with the longest being 45 yards.  Not the prettiest of kicks but I'll take 100% everyday of the week.
Woodill then go on to show off his leg strength.  He hits all 4 of his and the longest about 43 yards.  His kicks were all crushed with a couple of close up ones hitting the scoreboard with a thud.  Hammock doing a great job of having depth here and most positions.  

Offense lines up in endzone with ball on the 2 yard line.  With a great block on LB/S Dozier finds some room.  Cuts hard losing the last defender and takes off for the extra long TD.  Both the block and the run were special.

Offense resets on 25 yard line and get illegal shift back to 30.  Dozier another big run to 5.  Next run by Dozier is stuffed as D as they focused on run.  So what does O do?  Next play QB keeper by Lomax.  Easy TD.

Offensive tempo now slows down.Trayvon with good hands catch.  D coverage was good.
Harry with 10 yd TD. Harry runs for 2 pt conversion but is "tagged" short.  Looks like he relaxes and the ball is funbled and collected by D.  Harry is wearing red "do not tackle" jersey again so it looks like D just needs to tag him for the tackle.  Either way conversion failed.

Punting practice is next.  Foley has nice hang-time and kicks go longer with each punt. Dozier shows he needs to improve on something as he drops a punt.


Back to scrimmage and someone on D blows up Blakemore on a run.  Next play Blakemore runs over a defender.  Energy picks up.
Then Dozier does it again.  Jukes and outruns defense on right side for 55 yard TD.  Fans in stands start taking notice.
QB rollout and Rocky with 10 yard fiip of ball to Cassens.  Nice play.
With Defense tired of Dozier showing them up Valcarcel takes him down hard after 3 yard run.
Offensive line was winning today and Dozier was able to take advantage of his opportunities.  He really shined again today.
Practice ended 20 minutes short and the cold weather limited my ability to take notes so apologies for the shorter page.

Hammock was giving out spring practice jerseys and then some special awards Tshirts.  Hard to hear but Ryan King and Jalonnie Williams were MIP, most improved players on D for the spring and no surprise Billy Dozier MIP for offense.
George Gumbs and Ryan King were awarded scholarships (reported that Lampe got 1 also but was hard to hear thru cheers).Gumbs started to show that he makes plays as TE.  I look forward to his growth.  Too hard to focus on both O and D so I can't comment on King.
Last was Easter Egg hunt for kids, players signing autographs and recruiting visits.

Spring practices recap:
OFFENSE
Last year I couldn't tell if the offense was so good or the defense so bad.  Well it turns out it was both.This year I have good news.  The offense could be even better.  The Oline has a chance to be a year better with only Nygra being the new center.  Losing their top WR from last year is buoyed by 2 strong WRs starters.  Let's look at positions and depth at this point in spring.

QB- Rocky is #1 and there is no QB controversy.  He is mature and quite possibly the best QB for NIU in years.  He has arm strength, is hard to bring down and smart, perhaps smarter than last year.  Coach has given Rocky the keys to the car and he directs the team to be in the right spots.

#2 is Lomax and he improved the more reps he was given.  While I hope we don't see him this year he is in the mix to play in the future.  Big and athletic are his strong suits.  Needs more reps for the mental part of the game (Don't all QBs?)

#3 Lynch.  He improved throughout as well.  He throws a surprisingly tight spiral and has a strong arm.  I'll mention that he is shorter than the other QBs just for comparison.  This may not be an issue ultimately.  He didn't get as many reps as Lomax.

#4 Fletcher just didn't get reps to lead the team.  Made improvements to his throwing motion as noted by others.  He no longer "signals" that he is about to throw, his motion is more fluid.  He is just stuck in a deep QB room.    
Hampton is the sideline signal caller for most of the practices.  I assume he is injured.  No idea where he fits in the lineup above.  He was #2 last year and his lone late-season start was not strong, in fact it was poor.  I won't hold that against him as the team was exhausted by that game and mentally seemed off.  Wonder how Hammock will approach the QBs come summer.  My only guess is what I've seen before, he will let him compete and maybe he could regain his #2 spot.

RB- Waylee is #1  Nothing to worry about here.  He looks bigger than last year and while he didn't break as many long runs this spring, I attribute that to the improved D.

#2 Dozier.   OK hear me out.   He gives the team something the other RBs don't, shiftiness.  He is a change of pace guy.  Not the biggest or strongest but makes guys miss.  Hits homeruns.  At first I thought he might be a gimmick because he was a WR playing RB but the more reps he got the more he took advantage.  He was the surprise for the offense this spring.  Credit Ham on finding guys with ability and getting them in the right spot.  I'm not sure if he will stay #2 by fall but that is where he is at now.

#3 Blakemore only because he was hurt the last couple of weeks.  Not sure when he came back as I've only seen Saturday practices.  Last year Blakemore came from deep in the depth chart to playing time.  His first "moment" was a juked TD that left the defender's jock on the field and my jaw on the ground.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen more plays like that.  I'm not at every practice so maybe I just am missing his homeruns.  Last year stats were pedestrian. Looking for an improvement.

A Brown.  Slight concern that Brown has been hurt last year and now spring.  Hammock says, "Best ability is availability."  If this holds true Brown may have an issue in getting carries.  I love watching him run.  Just haven't seen it last 3 weeks.

Expect this RB group to catch passes this year. This will be part of the offense.

Brock Lampe is 1 supremely built looking FB.  He is finding a role in the backfield and even had a pass play or 2.(I recall 2 top RBs come in summer)

TE Joiner is #1 and can catch.  Tewes and Soraghan have made some plays but may not force other teams to stop them.  Gumbs has shown up on the radar and has a chance to be a nice receiving TE.  Can't comment on blocking but that will be the major part of being a good NIU TE.

WR
Trayvon and Tucker will be solid and lead the group.  McCray had another couple catches today.There seems to be some many WRs who can catch.  Watching WR drills each and everyone of the WRs  caught the ball with their hands.  Didn't let ball get to chest.  This seems to be an emphasis and the team looks improved.Last year Messiah Travis stood out in practices.  This year all the other WRs seem to be grouped together.  Toure, McCray, Travis, Antoine, new-comer Thorton.   Not sure how to rank any of these outside the top 2.  Maybe McCray has the edge to be on 3 WR sets.

DEFENSE
More good news.  The defense has improved.  I didn't see too many mental break downs  One example is the number of blitzes/rushes I observed has increased.  This means the coaches trust the players more.  They understand their roles and now can be less predictable.  Growth.

If the defense makes it to a mediocre level or even good then NIU will be hard to beat.  I know the D coaches preached turnovers. I didn't see many the last 2 practices.  I did see several pass breakups and they are getting pressure/sacks on the QB at times.  The best part is that I'm seeing the D slow down the offense at times.  Plus the energy the defense is bringing is contagious.  Looks like they are having fun, playing hard and are smarter than a year ago. 

Last year Lafayette was simply outstanding in practice.  His injury last year was devastating to that group.  I'm hoping that he can return to that level.  I didn't see him making plays this spring but word from Coach Ham is that he is doing well. 

I'm seeing new names come up often but was frozen today trying to record so forgive me for being light in this area.  If others have comments on the D and what they saw in practices I'd appreciate the conversation

Summer may provide another surprise or 2.  Will be fun when it comes. This team is pretty solid at this point with injuries a concern but plenty of time for healing.   (I'm going to have to find something else to do on my Saturdays, lol)

TEAMDUH

I'm reading a novel that's shorter than this recap! Thanks, Teamduh. Gonna be a fun season!

But it's way more fun this way.

(04-17-2022 11:26 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  It’s crazy but I may be most excited about the defense this year. Having Lafayette and Pugh back is incredible. The step up we could see in second year players like Brown, Rayner and Nelson could really be something. The D-line, while not dominant, will have now some depth and hold it’s own. I hate wishing summers to go by fast, but damn I wish it was august.

Love the having Pugh back is incredible statement. Cut and paste and save that one for next year.

I just want a decent pass rush. If we can get that, it covers warts in other areas. If CBs and safeties have to cover people all over field, very tough.

In case it hasn't been posted elsewhere, the offensive awards

https://twitter.com/NIU_Football/status/...POIGg&s=19

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(04-18-2022 07:27 AM)Milwaukee Pilot Wrote:  

(04-17-2022 11:26 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  It’s crazy but I may be most excited about the defense this year. Having Lafayette and Pugh back is incredible. The step up we could see in second year players like Brown, Rayner and Nelson could really be something. The D-line, while not dominant, will have now some depth and hold it’s own. I hate wishing summers to go by fast, but damn I wish it was august.

Love the having Pugh back is incredible statement. Cut and paste and save that one for next year.

Paging Dr.Pugh. Paging Dr.Pugh. You’re needed in fumble recovery.

(04-18-2022 08:38 AM)klake87 Wrote:  I just want a decent pass rush. If we can get that, it covers warts in other areas. If CBs and safeties have to cover people all over field, very tough.

It’s safe to say there should be better pressure on the QB from more
Blitzing. With better assignment knowledge comes bigger risks taken. I feel like every position will be a bump up from last year on D, and that has a compounding effect for all. Even a better offense may allow that D-line to pin their ears back and focus on getting to the QB.

Dozier 98 yd TD at 1:11 mark along with some other field level video. Nice job NIU on the editing.

https://twitter.com/NIU_Football/status/...L6AbQ&s=19

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