August 16, Practice Report: Defense
DL
Plenty of talent here but few players who actually have reps. I think the whole DL is up for someone to step up, except Cofield who is solid already. Basically our DE will be manned with 3 solid guys in Koehn, Mims, Ngene, while I see Wooten filling in and learning the position.
Koehn: Koehn is quietly having a good summer. He has stayed healthy and it is apparent that he has done considerable off season work. My guess is that he is around 275 now. He's getting huge now and amazingly seems to be keeping his quickness, perhaps our most athletic. Still Strief has no problem with any of our DE at this point. Not to worry though because Strief has no problem going up against any DE in the big10. IMO, opposing teams will be having to deal with "the Koehn factor". And Koehn is a Randy Walker type of guy...seems to practice very hard and is very determined. I pencil him in at starter.
Ngene: Dudes, this guy looks like that Rock creature from fantastic 4. Looks like around 270. Man, he took his shirt off and he must be the most powerful looking dude on the team. Again, all I can say is that he is just another one of these players on this team who has busted his butt in the offseason. He looked good practicing today and I think he is going to give the fans some excitement this year. As far as I know he is healthy however my only reservation about him is that he has had the toughest luck the past couple years instaying healthy. I pencil him in at starting DE.
Mims Looked really decent today and may actually be one of our starting DE. Not sure about the Media guides listing of him nor the depth chart listing of his weight. He looks like another big DE to me and much bigger than 260. My guess is he is about 270 now. When I see Mims play I like what I see but still the only question I have about Mims is will his knees hold up over a season? Played decent today but he appeared to labor in the running drills. Not in exhaustion but in possibly favoring his knee[s]. I don't know, I could be wrong because he might be 100%, certainly he practices like he is...just hope he is healthy that's all.
Wooten: He will play this year. He hustles all over the field and wins his running exercises. Seems like a freakn steal that we got him without having to beat the Upper eschalon programs. I peg him at our 4th rated DE.
Kennedy Isn't ready and IMO he redshirts.
Cofield: Healthy and solid. Nuff said.
Anderson Got alot of reps today at DT. I'm unclear on him. It may be that he will be on our opening 2 deep.
Gill Played at DT and on FG block unit. He's a load and will play. Once he gets his reps he will move up up up.
Shutlz: Him and Cofield provided experience at the DT positon today. Definately looked bigger today than last time I seen him play.
Hahn I liked what I saw of him today and I look forward to watching him play on Saturdays. I think he shirts though since I don't beleive he will crack our 2 deep at this time.
LB
Not much to report here since I was primarily watching other units. I noticed Black getting alot of reps and he may have worked his way into the 2 deep.
DB:
Ok Johnny Numbers who was the guy other than Cobb wearing number 44? I took notice of him out there.
Basically B Smith stole the show for me. Who the hell is this guy?
The kid is a real talent who has jets, size, strength. He will DEFINATELY play this year. IMO, he offers us the potential best free safety I have ever seen at NU. Just incredible to watch. Does he have to learn? Yes but he is solid and I wouldn't be surprised if he starts at or before the PSU game.
McPherson: Today McPherson showed me that he is ready to take his game to another level. Quietly had a good day practicing today. The level of competition between him and Smith is going to be fierce. Really excited about both of these guys.
Cole & Battle starting CB's. Both looked good.
Heinz, Tarver, Henderson Didn't see Heinz on the field. Perhaps he was wearing a orange jersey. The bigger problem I had was trying to determine who was in the safety slot not wearing a numbered jersey but doing a pretty decent job. I would say it was Tarver but where does that leave Henderson? Maybe I missed him but that doesn't seem likely since he will be a huge part and a starter in our defensive backfield this year. Was he wearing an orange jersey? Beats me. I didn't see Number 6 but he could have been wearing an orange jersey or maybe I just missed him, or perhaps he changed numbers. BTW, it is easy to miss someone because there are two fields at Parkside and the fans are allowed to watch but from up on a hill as not to distract the players.
And for the record, alot of players did change numbers and it was a bit hard to reprogram my 486 mind.
At any rate, If I missed someone then drop me a line. It's getting late