Jordan Lynch was arguably the greatest player in NIU football history. You’d have to put the former Northern Illinois quarterback in the discussion for the MAC all-time Mt. Rushmore, if you don’t have him there already. But again, and it pains me that I have to say this in the first place, he’s not a NFL player. He may catch on with a practice squad somewhere, but if he makes it to into the Chicago Bears two-deep at the tailback position then I’ll change my entire wardrobe to skin tight t-shirts designed by Ed Hardy.
I have a better chance of entering a serious relationship with Candice Swanepoel than Jordan Lynch does of being a significant part of the Bears ground attack.
But the pro game and the college game are two completely different animals. The Northern Illinois University QB finished 7th in Heisman Trophy voting his junior year and third last year. He was second to Johnny Manziel in total offense in 2012 and broke the single game record for rushing yards by a quarterback not once but twice in 2013.
So how do the Huskies replace all that? Well, look what happened when they had to replace Chandler Harnish, who unlike Lynch, was actually drafted. (albeit Mr. Irrelevant.) Today is NIU Husky football media day, Chicago edition. (they’ll have a Dekalb edition later) That means the college football preseason has officially started.
Yes, as of now football season is here (kind of). Let’s look ahead. Consider this the preview of the NIU football season preview.
Obviously, we can’t gloss over the loss of safety Jimmie Ward either, who played his Pop Warner football with former Alabama QB AJ McCarron.
“Jimmie Ward is an outstanding playmaker, not a big safety, but he fits today’s NFL with his coverage abilities, and how he’s around the ball so much and he makes so many impact plays,” Mel Kiper Jr said.
Ward was the guy who was the first round pick by the San Francisco 49ers, not Lynch. Obviously, the bigger question is how does the 2014 NIU offense adapt to the loss of Lynch, rather than how does the defense adjust to the loss of Ward. Don’t forget though, the defense was sketchy to begin with, and that will be the biggest question mark now. The early season escapes versus Idaho and Eastern Illinois embarrassed the D, and if you’re in the demographic that consciously clicked on this, I don’t need to remind you of how the defense looked in the MAC Title game.
I won’t bring up the bowl game either- although that one was more on Jordan Lynch and the offense
From the SB Nation NIU/MAC blog:
In 2014, it appears that a lot of NIU’s strengths (skill position depth, offensive line play, linebackers) will get stronger while its weaknesses (activity on the defensive line, big plays in the secondary) get weaker. This could result in a lot of #MACtion-style shootouts, but that will indeed depend on the quarterback position. NIU looks good enough at the other 10 offensive positions that Lynch’s absence might not be a killer. But until we see someone step up and play well, we don’t know for sure that it will happen. And even if it does, that probably won’t help a sketchy defense very much.
The schedule certainly helps. NIU plays eight teams projected 102nd or worse and hosts division rival Toledo. Despite the road trip to Ball State, that could give the Huskies a decent chance at their fifth consecutive MAC West title. If they indeed get to the title game, they probably won’t be favorites this time around, but they’ll have a chance. Considering the quality of the quarterback they just lost, that’s pretty impressive.
I would have to agree, NIU is still strong this year as they were last year at most positions. In some units, they’re even better. However, “it all starts with the quarterback,” like the cliche says. NIU backups Drew Hare and Matt McIntosh will battle it out with Anthony Maddie and incoming three-star signee Landon Root to replace Jordan Lynch. And like SB Nation wrote in their season preview piece, the 2013 Huskies were not as good as the 2012 edition. Despite the undefeated regular season, I couldn’t agree more.
I’m predicting the 2014 Huskies take another step down, but really not all that much. And I still think they’re among the best teams in the MAC.
Here are some players to watch in ’14, as these are the Huskies coming to NIU football Media Day.
OT Ryan Brown, Sr. (Elburn, Illinois)
WR Da’Ron Brown, Sr. (Chicago, Illinois)
OG Aidan Conlon, Jr. (Flossmoor, Illinois)
S Dechane Durante, Sr. (Charlotte, N.C.)
DT Donovan Gordon, Sr. (Kansas City, Missouri)
MLB Boomer Mays, Jr. (Lawrence, Kansas)
DE Jason Meehan, Sr. (St. Louis, Missouri)
We’ll be back with more on Jordan Lynch, Jimmie Ward and the upcoming season previews. So check back early and often.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports and Yahoo! He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world. Banks has been featured in numerous media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, NBC, CBS, the History Channel and more. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)