The 2019 offense is shaping up to be a force, especially if Luke Ford decides to return to his home state. Competition for QB should be interesting, but I don't think it's a position of concern.
But what about the defense? What does Illinois need? A lot, I think, besides a great DC. What do you think? I need some analysis.
Thanks.
A great DC is all in the eye of the beholder. If we stay in the lane of what we know at this point, Lovie is going to be our DC. He is most certainly going to go down as a great defensive coach, regardless of his time with ILL. I digress.
Lovie's defense is based off winning one on one matchups. What this team needs is better athletes. We are going to gain some athleticism with the maturity of the current roster. With the consideration of this being in the recruiting thread, I will keep it to incoming players.
By position
DE - We currently have one really good DE, Roundtree. Everyone else needs to step up and make a bigger impact. The DE position has been addressed this recruiting class
DT - We are very young at this position. Bigger need to land a top end DT in the next class. Denver Warren would be nice
LB - Gotta get Shammond! And possibly a transfer just for depth. Milo gets to play this upcoming year. That should make a huge impact. We have a handful of guys we brought in last year, but not sure if they will have the speed that is needed in this system. LB, IMO, is the biggest need for the next two years. To be clear, Defensive Line is the most important part of Lovie's defense.
CB - Hobbs and Beason / S - Tony Adams and Sydney Brown I think will be starting. We have a lot of young guys currently on the roster. They need to develop. If the front 7 are wrecking as designed, the CB will look a lot better. Not a current position of need
This is just my opinion based off pure observations.