Let’s see… where were we?

So I see a secondary without Vontae as “has a chance to be better”.  The young guys will make mistakes – both in coverage and in penalties – but with experienced players like Hicks, Bellamy, and even Thomas on the field, plus a burgeoning star in Tavon Wilson, I think this is the start of a solid secondary.  Can the safeties keep up?

The answer is a resounding… probably not. (sadness) I mean I really, really want to say yes.  I want to believe that Donsay is 100% and will actually look for the floating pass (and not the big hit) this year.  I want to believe that the flashes I saw in Garrett Edwards last year will become consistencies.  I want to hear that Supo Sanni is absolutely killin’ it at camp and believe every word.  But when ESPN’s Big Ten Blogger, flawed as he may be, ranks your secondary 10th out of 11, you need to sit back, look yourself straight in the mirror, and wonder why everything looks so orange.

Starters: Donsay Hardeman (SR), Garrett Edwards (rs-JR)

I’m thrilled that Donsay will more than likely be back from his neck injury. I thought our pass defense improved tremendously once he was healthy last year. He had a knack for the big play, be it the forced fumble that almost brought us back in the Minnesota game, or the keep-your-toes-in interception against Iowa. As mentioned above, he probably missed at least two easy interceptions (one in the Minnesota game, one in the Ohio State game) because he went for the hit when the ball was floating. I’d love to see him peek at the ball more. But overall, I think we’ll be very pleased with what we get out of this hard hitting senior.

I’m going with Garrett Edwards as the other starting safety. Yes, he looked completely lost a few times last year. In fact, he’s the only player I can remember seeing Zook personally yank off the field after a mistake (OSU game, second half, Edwards misses a receiver in the flat right in front of Zook on the sideline, and Zook turns around to find Bo Flowers and send him in.  Not sure how Mallory and DIsch felt about that one). But lost sophomores sometimes become putting-it-together juniors who become dominant seniors.  And Edwards showed decent instincts in the zone, good tackling angles, and flyaroundability.  I’m hoping he runs away with the job.

Backups: Bo Flowers (JR), Supo Sanni (SO), Ashante Williams (rs-FR)

Bo Flowers was just about the perfect recruit.  Solid athlete, great upside, and doesn’t cost us a scholarship.  The Detroit Tigers pay for his school, and we get an 86th scholarship athlete.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is, he hasn’t really shown much on the field.  And if he keeps trying to tackle like the :20 second mark of this video, he won’t get an opportunity to show much more. (Also of note in that scrimmage video – Ian Thomas looks absolutely fantastic).

Supo Sanni is probably the other candidate to start alongside Hardeman.  I’ve heard that secondary coach/co-D-coordinator Curt Mallory loves him and will give him every opportunity to win a starting spot as a true sophomore.  But I can find three examples in the video above where #32 was out of position. It’s like the Illini Football version of “What’s Wrong?”, only instead of a kid playing baseball with a fish, Supo Sanni is taking a bad angle.

Ashante Williams switched over from corner to safety this spring.  Bob Asmussen was apparently impressed, as he put Ashante at #25 in his most important Illini (for the record, I didn’t have him in my top-50).  It’s possible that the move from a deep position to a not-so-deep position will gain this former early-enrollee some playing time, but I just can’t see anything beyond special teams this year.

Freshmen: Tommie Hopkins, Walter Aikens

Safety is the one position where I think we could see a Vontae Davis-y freshman surprise.  As in, find the field early and grab a starting position by the end of September.  And if it’s not starting at free safety or strong safety, there’s always what I call the Justin Sanders position, that hybrid safety/corner that comes in for the nickel.  I’ve already stated my desire that Dere Hicks slides to that position (with Miami on the corner) for the nickel this year, but hey, I’m open to Walt Aikens being the second coming of Antoine Patton.

Aikens is a freak athlete, so I could easily see him being our Freshman Surprise.  From the football video, it looks like he plays center field pretty well, so I’d love to read a Herb Gould feature in a few weeks on our new DB from North Carolina.  Something in a “Zook can find a recruit anywhere” with a touch of “Aikens’ father knew he would be a star since he was 2 days old” would be nice.

Tommie Hopkins was part of the Big Three that led East St. Louis to the state title last November.  I’m not sure if there will be any lingering effects from Hopkins being shot in the leg back in March, but if he’s healthy, he has the heavy-hitter mentality that could move him up the depth chart quickly.

Summation: The Broken Neck That Changed Our Season

The season has gone swimmingly.  Despite a drubbing at Ohio State and a crushing 4th quarter comeback by Michigan State, the Illini have won 4 in a row and sit at an impressive 7-2.  A win in their final conference game and Illinois can start thinking about a New Years Day bowl.  In the third quarter of a tight game against Northwestern, a Jason Ford fumble has set up the Wildcats with a short field and a chance to tie.  Mike Kafka drops back and throws a 15 yard slant to Sidney Stewart. Donsay Hardeman had been prepared to punish Stewart for coming across the middle, but his neck reminds him that maybe a glance at the ball would be better.  It’s floating high, Stewart can’t get a hand on it, and by the time he has a chance to react, Donsay is fifteen yards in the other direction headed for a 73-yard pick six.

At least that’s they way it plays out in my head.