Let’s do these as position battles.  Like every high school football practice, college training camp, and NFL post-game party, nobody cares about the kickers, holders, or long-snappers (maybe Jim Sheppard, but he’s, like, the only one). So to spice things up, picture if you will, on a practice field at dusk in the back corner [...]

Many times, when writing these position breakdowns, I have to calm myself down and look to balance the positives with negatives. In August, every linebacker is oozing potential.  Every freshman has a chance to break into the two-deep.  No guard has missed a block, no defensive end has jumped offsides, and no cornerback has dropped [...]

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 [...]

I plan on dedicating 1,200 words later this preseason to the topic of interceptions.  Why we threw so many.  Why we grabbed so few.  And why it’s better to be lucky than good.  But for now, in hopes of not mentioning the topic too many times in this cornerbacks preview, I’ll just say this: The [...]

There I would sit, every day, refreshing the recruiting target lists, hoping for just one middle linebacker recruit to list us. I watched Will Compton go to Nebraska, talked myself into thinking that Steven Filer would renege on his commitment to Notre Dame and come to Champaign, and dreamt of Sam Barrington or Hawatha Bell [...]