Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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I'm running with IW to be a complete stud. He's gonna knock our socks off. Can't see all this reasoning to temper our optimism. He's likely to transfer off to Penn State if we starting telling him to take his time learning the play book. Our coaching staff needs to tweak the play book if IW isn't slaying it super quick. Coach Rod is bright enough to find a way. We should stop sweating the thought of IW not breaking into a quick starting role. No PSU leftovers for me!
Some quick digging. You mention 4 players but from 2015 Illinois has enrolled 22 players from either Florida or Texas. That is an 18% success rate. Am I missing something? Any good ball player or above will receive a 4 or 5 star if you are from Florida or Texas. You have to be average or below average to receive a 3 star in those states. The opposite is true for the Midwest or the state of Illinois specifically. Not everyone gave Beckner a 5th star and he was rated the number 2 player in the country. A kids really have to earn a 3 star rating if they are from Illinois. Some people treat recruitment as if there is a certain number of 4 and 5 stars players that each state have to give out. They aren't 3 stars because they ran out of 4 and 5 stars in that state. They are 3 stars because they are average and are equivalent or in some cases worse than the 3 stars in Midwestern states.
FT35
- Naperville
QB is a developmental position and IW should be given time to develop. If IW was here this Spring then I'd feel better about handing the keys over to him but it's best for everyone if we are patient with him and don't throw him to the lions right away. I don't question his abilities but injuries are always a concern with dual threat QBs which is why I'm okay with having 5 scholarship QBs.
In 2016 we were a snap away from having either Trenard Davis or Cam Miller be our QB. We were also down to a third string QB in 2017.
The risk is really there for whoever decides to transfer here. We should not be guaranteeing the job to anyone but if a guy wants a chance to compete for the job then I don't have an issue with it.
All good points FT. Even with the game softening to two-hand-touch these days, QBs get injured too often. But a giant chunk of the development is the timing and the comfort. Those first string reps are crucial. I worry big time that you take a talent like IW and try and convince him he's not ready. I can vouch for his talent, but I can't vouch for his patience and his ego. At some quick point, I think you start going backwards. He'll be a stud this year that we can sit back and enjoy!
There is no convincing people they aren’t ready. This is Big 10 football. The play on the field does the talking. If we have kids that want out because they don’t get handed a starting job immediately, those aren’t the kids to build a program.
IW will be fine. Freshman year starter or not. He wouldn’t have committed to come here if he can’t handle some adversity.
Rumor flying on 247 from a solid poster that something fairly big is on the way in the next couple weeks, fwiw.
Most expected him to win the starting job at PSU, but no a team that is 2 years away from Crouch, George Jr, & Thomas at QB wouldn't want leftovers. Plus now we actually have 1 sophomore QB on the roster along with 3 freshman...we're good. /s
Deleted member 654622
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Would be a nice surprise if so. Otherwise I am just planning on hanging out in the 2019 Football thread until week 3.
Deleted member 631370
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If he recovers from his injury(s), then there is absolutely no question that he'd be the best QB on the roster by a fairly comfortable margin. But that's a big "if", and the biggest reason why James Franklin hasn't assured him of the starting job yet.
If he appears to be on track to be ready for opening weekend, then you take him. No questions asked. He's 6'5, 230, and runs like the wind. As a Penn State fan, my biggest problem with Tommy was his run-first mentality. Trace would make terrific decisions in the RPO, and when necessary, hang in the pocket and make throws. Tommy's first instinct was to tuck it and run. And with his size, he could bulldoze over guys. But it's not a very sustainable approach.
He CAN throw the ball downfield. Not nearly as well as Sean Clifford (which I suspect is why Clifford was headed toward potentially winning the PSU job), but probably good enough for Rod Smith's system.
The Miss State connection is due to Joe Moorhead, who ran the offense at Penn State in 2016 and 2017. He would be a perfectly logical replacement for Nick Fitzgerald, though Moorhead prefers somebody who's a bit more pass-oriented than Nick (and probably Tommy as well).
look at his highlight he look like a rod smith like qb
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Yes, he is.
Definitely a run-first guy, but he can certainly spread the ball around and even go downfield. He may not be as fast as IW, but he's much bigger, almost certainly a better passer, and has 3 years of meaningful snaps on a top-10/15 team under his belt. No way we shouldn't at least inquire.
Here's my 2 cents, bring in a grad transfer who can deliver Coach Rod's O. Hopefully the ILLINI will be up by a lot in non-conference games and IW can play his 3 games and take a RS still getting valuable experience.
Didnt think William's would redshirt, but I read in the article if Steven's came we would have the depth to redshirt him and gee et him the experience of college without wasting a year of eligibility. I think from everything I've seen on William's he will take the starting job relatively quickly if he shows his game translates well in the big ten.. he is just completely gifted with athleticism,intelligent, high football i.q. and he is a legit duel threat q.b with a cannon for an arm as well. Barring m.j rivers or any of the other QBs on the roster having an unforeseen impact or breakout season he will take over the reins.. also with the talent lovie and his team are bringing in I think a bowl game is definitely a reasonable expectation.. so the question comes to mind "if not then who's next" rod smith? My opinion is give lovie another year after this one to see if he and his team can repeat the success in recruiting they had this year... if not and under 6 wins he has to go yea or no?
One final question what is your opinion on tate? Will he come here or not what are your thoughts...
South Farms
- near Ogden & Rt 83
are there ever guarantees in sports ?
what coach or manager would be so dumb to say that?
all you can ever promise a guy is opportunity. you can say that if you commit, we aren't taking any other transfers and what you see on our roster is who you have to beat out. obviously, the staff and Rod are not figuring Tate is anything close to a sure thing or even a maybe thing come July.
what coach or manager would be so dumb to say that?
all you can ever promise a guy is opportunity. you can say that if you commit, we aren't taking any other transfers and what you see on our roster is who you have to beat out. obviously, the staff and Rod are not figuring Tate is anything close to a sure thing or even a maybe thing come July.
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Yep. He didn't leave Penn State because he wasn't guaranteed the starting job. Even Tommy's dad mentioned that there was never an expectation of being guaranteed anything. However, he saw the writing on the wall with Franklin's "we need a true competition" comment -- Sean Clifford was gaining serious ground, and with Tommy's injury, there was a very good probability that Tommy would lose the #1 position to Clifford. With only one year of eligibility left, Tommy made a calculated decision to go somewhere where his odds of starting were better. Simple as that.
You don't guarantee the kid a starting role, but you paint him an accurate picture and hope that he sees the obvious.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
We offer a very good fit. I'll be surprised if we're not one of his finalists.
From our end, what's not to like? QB is not arguably our shakiest position. Stevens is better than Bush (running and passing and game management) was and would fortify our QB situation immensely. Yes, our young uns might be angry and/or sad. So what?
Nobody on this board has any inside info on Tate. The signs point to no but nobody actually knows.
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Meh.....a true freshman like IW can't possibly get angry (at least with any rational justification) over NOT starting right away when you have a 5th year senior like Tommy Stevens in the fold. Unless, of course, he was sold on starting immediately. Would Rivers be angry? Who knows, and who cares.
The difference between Stevens (or another quality transfer QB) and Rivers/Williams is quite possibly the difference between 6-7 wins and 4-5 wins. You win NOW and worry about any hurt feelings later.
Who knows where Stevens is leaning. The Miss State thing is pure speculation on the basis of his ties to Moorhead. However, he's from Indiana, originally committed to IU, and spent the last 4 years in the Big Ten. Illinois has to make sense, as would Indiana or Purdue if either of them feel as though they're not 100% sold on their QB situation. There's also Rutgers, but Illinois is closer to home and, well, at least Illinois isn't Rutgers.
In January, the likelihood was high. Now, I wouldn’t count on it. His game has improved in the Sumlin system. His relationship with his mentor has gotten strong and Gunnell isn’t ready or competitive against Tate, at the moment. Tate is set up to have a strong season and show his improvement to nfl scouts
I still think Tate comes, i will be happy to eat crow if not
Who said IW hasn’t had his hands on a playbook?
I didn’t say he didn’t have his hands on s playbook. But without reps, i can’t imagine he will be ready on day 1 with s full playbook
bring in a senior QB transfer (tate or tommy) and put him in the backfield with IW 5-10 snaps a game the way penn state ran with two QB's.
have a sit down with Coran and move him to receiver. run three incredibly gifted athletic QB's on the field with Beason and Corbin and watch
Big Ten defenses heads spin around.
have a sit down with Coran and move him to receiver. run three incredibly gifted athletic QB's on the field with Beason and Corbin and watch
Big Ten defenses heads spin around.
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