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| Northern Illinois sophomore wide receiver Martel Moore (1) competes with Sycamore graduate Marckie Hayes, an NIU freshman, for a ball during practice Wednesday at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb. (Beck Diefenbach – bdiefenbach@daily-chronicle.com) |
DeKALB – Northern Illinois junior quarterback Chandler Harnish has won the job ... as the Huskies holder.
NIU released its depth chart for the Sept. 2 season opener at Iowa State, and while some questions have been answered, several positional battles are ongoing.
Harnish, junior DeMarcus Grady and redshirt freshman Jordan Lynch, who had an impressive training camp, are in a three-way battle for the starting job. Kill does not yet have a timetable for when he will announce his starting signal caller.
It is also still unclear who will be kicking for the Huskies, though former Illinois kicker and NIU senior Michael Cklamovski is listed as freshman Matthew Sims' competition.
Sycamore graduate Jason Schepler and fellow junior Jack Marks will compete for the starting spot at tight end.
On defense, sophomore Tyrone Clark and junior Jordan Delegal continue to battle at weakside linebacker. Sophomore Tommy Davis and senior Mike Sobol – who has practiced at full contact after wearing a non-contact green jersey during training camp – are listed as the top options at free safety.
There were a few changes from the preseason depth chart.
Sophomore receiver Martel Moore jumped junior Willie Clark for the starting X position. Senior cornerback Kiaree Daniels will fill in for the injured Patrick George (sprained ankle), who sat out of practice Wednesday after missing most of training camp. George's status for the Iowa State game is still unclear, Kill said.
NIU plans to start the same five offensive linemen who have worked with the first string through camp: left tackle Trevor Olson, left guard Logan Pegram, center Scott Wedige, right guard Joe Pawlak and right tackle Keith Otis.
Adam Kiel, who started at right tackle for 11 games last season as a sophomore, has practiced the past two days after missing most of camp.
Four true freshmen – Greg Barksdale, Jamaal Bass, Cameron Stingily and Mike Hellams – are listed as backups at linebacker, a position NIU prefers to rotate up to eight players a game.
Other true freshmen on the two-deep depth chart are: receiver Da'Ron Brown, receiver/kick returner Akeem Daniels, tackle Tyler Loos, defensive end Joe Windsor and safety Jimmie Ward.
NIU DEPTH CHART
OFFENSE
WR (X) Martel Moore (So.), Willie Clark (Jr.), Da'Ron Brown (Fr.)
WR (V) Nathan Palmer (Jr)., Akeem Daniels (Fr.), Anthony Johnson (Fr.-R)
TE Jason Schepler (Jr.) OR Jack Marks (Jr.), Nick Groeniger
LT Trevor Olsen (Jr.), Matt Battaglia (So.) OR Adam Kiel (Jr.)
LG Logan Pegram (So.), Matt Krempel (Fr.-R)
C Scott Wedige (Jr.), Jared Volk (Fr.-R)
RG Joe Pawlak (Jr.), Ed Jackson (Sr.)
RT Keith Otis (Jr.), Tyler Loos (Fr.)
WR (Z) Landon Cox (Sr.), Perez Ashford (So.)
QB DeMarcus Grady (Jr.) OR Chandler Harnish (Jr.) OR Jordan Lynch (Fr.-R)
FB Kyle Skarb (Sr.), Connor Flahive (Sr.)
TB Chad Spann (Sr.), Jasmin Hopkins (Jr.) OR Ricky Crider (Sr.)
DEFENSE
DE Jake Coffman (Sr.) AND Alan Baxter (So.), Anthony Wells (Fr.-R)
NG Mike Krause (Sr.), Brian Lawson (So.)
DT D.J. Pirkle (Sr.), Ron Newcomb (Jr.), Nabal Jefferson (So.)
DE Sean Progar (So.), Darnell Bolding (Sr.), Stephen O'Neal (Fr.-R), Joe Windsor (Fr.)
SLB Alex Kube (Sr.-R), Greg Barksdale (Fr.) AND Jamaal Bass (Fr.)
MLB Devon Butler (So.), Cameron Stingily (Fr.) AND Mike Hellams (Fr.)
WLB Tyrone Clark (So.) OR Jordan Delegal (Jr.)
LCB Chris Smith (Sr.), Rashaan Melvin (So.), Sean Evans (Fr.-R)
SS Tracy WIlson (Jr.), Jimmie Ward (Fr.) OR Garrett Barnas (Sr.)
FS Tommy Davis (So.) OR Mike Sobol (Sr.), Demetrius Stone
RCB Kiaree Daniels (Sr.), Patrick George (Sr.) OR Dominique Ware (Fr.-R)
SPECIAL TEAMS
K Matthew Sims (Fr.) OR Michael Cklamovski (Sr.), Ryan Fillingim (Jr.)
P Josh Wilber (Jr.), Ryan Neir (So.)
DS Nolan Owen (Jr.), Adam Coleman (Jr.)
H Chandler Harnish (Jr.), Mike Sobol (Sr.) OR Ryan Neir (So.)
PR Tommy Davis (So.), Perez Ashford (So.)
KR Ricky Crider (Sr.) AND Jasmin Hopkins (Jr.), Tommy Davis (So.) AND Akeem Daniels (Fr.)
