5 burning questions about NIU football after the first day of spring camp

One down, 14 to go.

NIU’s first spring practice wrapped up Wednesday morning. And before the Huskies take the field again Friday for practice No. 2, here are five questions that may have actual answers by the end of practices on April 22.

Is an overhaul at cornerback what the doctor ordered?

Eric Rogers and Jordan Gandy are out at cornerback. Gabriel Amegatcher (Nebraska-Kearney) and Cam’Ron Dabney (Kansas) are in.

In a game of cornerback roulette through the transfer portal, the Huskies have two new pieces. Safety remains largely the same, with C.J. Brown, Louis Frye, Muhammed Jammeh and Cyrus McGarrell all back. Injuries were bad last year, and all four saw significant playing time.

Not to mention Devin Lafayette, who this year is listed in the Huskieback position, a hybrid safety-linebacker.

NIU was 101st out of 131 teams in passing yards allowed per game, surrendering 252.8 per contest. Obviously, that’s not going to cut it for a team that has Mid-American Conference title aspirations.

What’s the RB workload look like?

The Huskies have four running backs in camp, although those numbers will bulk up in June. But for now, the team will roll with Antario Brown, who was second on the team in rushing yards last year with 689 yards and is the top returner with Harrison Waylee now at Wyoming.

There’s also two guys back who didn’t get much action – Christian Nash didn’t get a carry, and Billy Dozier had five. There’s also junior Iowa transfer Gavin Williams, and the team awaits junior college transfer Azhuan Dingle and the freshmen from the signing class.

Hammock said the focus this spring is building up the middle third of the team. Given the injury woes the team went through last year, he said it’s important for the backups to have snaps and for the staff to see what they can do on film.

So that would seem to indicate Brown may take a back seat as the staff takes a look at Nash and Williams especially. Dozier had a lot of work last spring as well. The emphasis may be on seeing what the new addition brings and how the redshirt freshman has progressed.

Who emerges at inside linebacker?

Hammock said junior Jaden Dolphin, who came into the program in the secondary, already has bulked up to 220 pounds and has had a great offseason in the weight room.

But senior linebacker Tyler Jackson joined the team from Lamar, where he’s had 142 tackles over the past three years. Hammock said he’s been impressed with the leadership and work ethic Jackson has brought to the table.

The Huskies have had depth at linebacker the past few seasons, and especially at middle linebacker, with multiple players being able to contribute in big ways. And as Hammock said in his news conference Tuesday, labeling everyone a starter or backup can kind of muddle their true roles. So viewing this as a horse race probably is a fool’s errand, but seeing what a pair of potentially productive players can do at the same position still is intriguing.

What weapons surround QB Rocky Lombardi in the passing game?

Hammock said he feels this is the most weapons he’s had around Lombardi, now entering Year 3 with the program after Year 2 was curtailed by injury and ended up with the Michigan State transfer getting a medical redshirt.

The top two receivers from last year, Cole Tucker and Shemar Thornton, have moved on. But after missing all of last year, Trayvon Rudolph is back. And although he hasn’t played a down for the Huskies, freshman Jalen Johnson came in with a lot of talk about how he could contribute until an injury derailed his first year. There’s also Davis Patterson, a senior transfer from Notre Dame College (no, not that one.)

Speaking of ...

Hey, how’s Lombardi doing?

Lombardi played in four games last year, and in one of those games he clearly still was hampered by his leg/knee injury (Hammock does not disclose injury information). Plus, in case you forgot, backup Ethan Hampton also got hurt, leading to Nevan Cremascoli starting by the end of the year.

Justin Lynch actually played more than twice as many games at quarterback than anybody else, but threw significantly fewer passes than any other QB on the team.

So we’ll see how a close to 100% Lombardi meshes with a lot of, to him, new weapons. He didn’t dress Wednesday, but Hammock said he’s eager to get back on the field.

There’s still 14 more chances for him to get some spring reps.