DeKALB – Maybe I am late to the party, but apparently NIU's starting kicker this year will be a freshman.

The only two kickers listed on the roster are true freshman Jimmy Lowery and redshirt freshman John Richardson.

Coach Thomas Hammock said both kickers had productive summers and have come ready into the fall camp.

"I thought those guys did a lot of great work this summer getting kicks in when the other guys were working on 7-on-7s," Hammock said. "I think they've been working on things trying to perfect their craft all summer. And we'll try to put them in some game like situations where we put some pressure on them."

Hammock said special teams was a point of emphasis Saturday during the team's second practice, with punting drills taking place right out of the blocks. There's experience back there, with junior Matt Ference – who had a heavy workload last year – returns. Freshman Jace Hohenthaner also got some reps at punter as well. He's listed at 6-foot-5, 185-pounds on the roster, and honestly looks lankier.

They took turns punting to a revolving door of at least half a dozen different returners. Cole Tucker was almost exclusively the punt returner last year, but Jordan Nettles, Rondarius Gregory, Marcus Jones and Messiah Travis joined Tucker among the large group of returners Saturday.

"Today we started with special teams to make it a point of emphasis," Hammock said. "I thought those guys made some good kicks. I saw a couple not so good. But I thought the competition is heating up and that's what you want at this point. Two practices in, guys are feeling a sense of urgency and competing."

I also asked Hammock about the size of the receivers and tight ends. To me, the group seems significantly larger than it has in the past. Obviously the 6-foot-5 Dennis Robinson skews things, but the group on average seems taller than it has in my experience over the past five years.

Not that there hasn't been tall receivers. Kenny Golladay, obviously. But on the whole the group seems incredibly tall.

Hammock wouldn't say if he felt the group was taller than most on the whole, but did say there's some size.

"Certainly you want guys with a big catch radius," Hammock said. "We've got some size, we've got some athleticism. They're really working at their craft to get better. It makes an easier target for quarterbacks. They can put it in a spot, it doesn't have to be perfect. But if they get it in vicinity, we've got guys – it looks like through two days – that can come down with the ball."

And finally, I'll close on the QB battle. Incumbent Marcus Childers went first in most drills, but he and transfer Ross Bowers split time with the first team. In 7-on-7 drills, the differences between the two was on display. Bowers went deep a lot, with a bunch of nice passes, including finding Tyrice Richie in stride in the end zone, splitting a double team.

Childers looked a lot like last year, preferring more shorter passes, even in 7-on-7s, and when it went to full team drills he would utilize his legs and scramble.