After spring football ended Saturday, head coach Ron Zook was satisfied with – but not blown away by – what he’d seen in his first 15 practices with the Illini.

Zook joked about petitioning the NCAA for 15 more meetings before the fall, but acknowledged that he’d have to take what he got and accept the progress he’d seen so far.

“Now we’re going to find out what kind of leaders we have,” Zook said. “A lot of this is going to fall on their shoulders. We’ll find out in August how much work they’ve put in.”

The main change for Illinois’ players centered on Zook’s no-huddle offense. The coach introduced an attack plan that required more route memorization than former coach Ron Turner’s system had. Zook said the result was that things started off slow, as players were doing more thinking than instinctive responding.

“Football is a reaction game, so the more times you do something the better they’re going to be at it,” Zook said.

Zook released a preliminary depth chart on Monday. He said the standings reflect the teams’ progress during less than a month of practice. He emphasized nothing will be final until the first game Sept. 3.

“This depth chart is more of a progress report of where we are after spring and not about naming starters for the fall,” Zook said. “After 15 practices we have a better idea of what our team can do, but there is still a lot of time for guys to make improvement as they work out on their own over the summer.”

But through the spring, a few things have become obvious about how this team works in Zook’s scheme:

Quarterback

15 Tim Brasic (6-2, 185, Jr.)

11 Kisan Flakes (6-1, 190, r-Fr.) or

16 Chris Pazan (6-2, 210, Jr.)

Brasic has the easy lead. He fits the best into Zook’s offense and showed improvement through the spring.

Left Tackle

57 JJ Simmons (6-6, 290, Jr.)*

60 Ryan McDonald (6-4, 270, r-Fr.)

It’s no surprise that Simmons should be back for another season as starter. He started all 11 games last season, tallying 69 pancake blocks.

Left Guard

69 Ben Amundsen (6-6, 305, So.)

64 Martin O’Donnell (6-5, 290, So.)*

O’Donnell took over for Bryan Koch early last season and seemed to adjust to the role despite struggling early. Fellow sophomore Amundsen has a slight size advantage.

Center

67 Matt Maddox (6-4, 290, Jr.)*

72 Kyle Schnettgoecke (6-3, 280, Sr.)

It’ll be a scramble to fill the shoes of Duke Preston, who graduated to the NFL. Maddox will try to take over, switching from right guard.

Right Guard

79 James Ryan (6-6, 310, So.)

58 Dan Motuliak (6-4, 270, r-Fr.)

This one’s up in the air. Chances are size and experience are the reason for Ryan’s lead.

Right Tackle

68 Jim LaBonte (6-7, 300, So.)

73 Andrew Burk (6-6, 290, Jr.)

LaBonte was second at left tackle in 2004 but was switched after the graduation of Bucky Babcock, the four-year starter at right tackle.

Tight End

88 Melvin Bryant (6-5, 235, Jr.)

87 JR Kraemer (6-5, 220, r-Fr.)

Bryant showed what he’s capable of with three touchdowns in 2004. He caught 12 passes for 111 yards last season.

Wide Receiver

84 Kendrick Jones (6-2, 180, Sr.)*

80 Franklin Payne (6-0, 185, Jr.)*

Wide Receiver

8 DaJuan Warren (6-3, 195, So.)

82 Frank Lenti Jr. (6-2, 180, So.)

Zook has made a point of saying one of his priorities will be to recruit more receivers. But what he’s got is a good start. The surprise here is the emergence of walk-on Lenti Jr., who had a great spring season.

Running Back

26 E.B. Halsey (5-10, 200, Jr.)* and

30 Pierre Thomas (5-11, 190, Jr.)*

23 Marcus Mason (5-9, 200, Jr.) or

5 Rashard Mendenhall (6-0, 190, Fr.)

Zook’s in the opposite position with his running backs, but says there can never be too many. Look for Halsey and Thomas to share the spotlight again next year.

Fullback

34 Jason Davis (5-11, 220, Sr.)*

41 Russ Weil (6-0, 240, So.)

Davis was Illinois’ second-leading receiver last season with 41 catches for 340 yards. Weil is good, too, though, so it wouldn’t be too shocking for him to see action somewhere else.

Defensive End

98 Xavier Fulton (6-5, 270, So,)*

52 Cyrus Garrett (6-3, 230, Jr.)

Fulton started the last three games of 2004 as a true freshman, so we’ve seen how he can improve. Garrett had a pretty good spring, however.

Defensive Tackle

97 Ryan Matha (6-3, 300, Sr.)*

61 Adam Wilk (6-5, 275, Jr.)

Matha is a lock for a third season starting. He had 34 tackles last season, including six against Michigan.

Defensive Tackle

96 Chris Norwell (6-7, 270, So.)*

65 Josh Norris (5-11, 250, Sr.)

Norwell started last season, but Zook has said that won’t be a huge factor for anybody this year. Norris saw action in every game and could come from behind.

Defensive End

91 Derek Walker (6-5, 245, r-Fr.)

90 Scott Moss (6-3, 260, Sr.)

Moss started seven games in 2004, so don’t count him out.

Linebacker

51 Anthony Thornhill (6-1, 215, So.)

3 Walter Mendenhall (6-0, 200, r-Fr.)

Thornhill started seven games and played in all 11 in 2004, collecting 54 tackles. But there’s a reason Mendenhall was moved from running back.

Linebacker

48 Remond Willis (6-0, 220, r-Fr.)

3 Brian Grzelakowski (5-11, 210, So.)

This one’s up in the air. With Matt Sinclair and Mike Gawalek both graduating, it should be interesting to see what happens with the linebackers.

Linebacker

47 J Leman (6-3, 220, So.)*

43 Sam Carson (6-1, 225, r-Fr.)

Leman is another player who had a great spring. He had 56 tackles, playing in every game last year and starting the final five. He’ll be one to watch next season.

Cornerback

18 Alan Ball (6-1, 175, Jr.)*

22 Sharriff Abdullah (5-8, 180, Jr.)

Ball started 10 games in 2004 and has two years of strong contributions under his belt. He had 37 tackles, one PBU and one TFL last season.

Free Safety

20 Morris Virgil (5-10, 195, Sr.)*

29 Jody Ellis (6-1, 180, r-Fr.)

Virgil will be back. The senior started at Illinois as a running back, but started every game in 2004 at strong safety.

Strong Safety

32 Justin Harrison (5-11, 205, So.)*

42 Kevin Mitchell (6-0, 190, So.)

Harrison was Illinois’ Rookie of the Year in 2004, with 79 tackles (42 of them solo). Mitchell played in every game, but his numbers don’t match Harrison’s.

Cornerback

24 Charles Bailey (6-1, 195, So.)

25 James Cooper (5-11, 200, Sr.)

Cooper is another one who made the switch to defense in 2004. He put up good numbers, too, so this one could change.

Punter

37 Steve Weatherford (6-4, 205, Sr.)*

Easily. He was Illinois’ only Big Ten Player of the Week in 2004, ranking fourth in the nation in punting average (45.4).

Kicker

13 Jason Reda (6-0, 185, So.)*

Reda struggled last season as Illinois’ first true freshman kicker in 16 years, but he showed his potential. Look for better consistency in the fall.

*- returning starters