Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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also, if the opposing qb never or rarely gets hit, he's not sore or thinking about his sore leg or sore shoulder all game.
Hit him legally and properly and his performance that game may very well decline in the 2nd half . Its not 7 on 7 ball nor beanbag.
Something changed in the 2nd half and I don't think it was Henry. I think we lose that game without the 180 on defense.
Because he didn’t have the talent Walters had
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
It would have been a spectacular failure to continue Walter's defensive approach from 2022 to subsequent years.
Interesting. I wouldn't mind if our entire O Line was a bunch of grown up mormons.
Think we're going to see DBU come back in a big way soon. Hankins to me is the real deal and should be a 5 star. I'm fully expecting him to start whether at CB, in the Quan Martin nickel role, or perhaps even FS as Miles Scott's replacement. Rankin can help a ton when he's not making plays on offense if that's the plan.
Think Eberhart is going to be a terror in the Sydney Brown/Matt Bailey role (Like AA good). He has early round potential on either side, and I think he'll make a big impact instantly. There were some insanely good gets in this class, and he was one. SS, LB, EDGE or WR he'll be an impact player.
Hankins, Ross and Thomas bring you back that ability to man up against anybody a la '22. With how they complemented '25 with '26 (And before), that's a very high floor for the foreseeable future. They're literally a Johnson-Cook, etc. from being legitimate CFP title contenders.
I hope we sign a future NFL center in the portal. That position seems to be the only o-line position not covered in yesterday’s haul.
Von Seggern is a good C prospect IMO. Really liked McMillian and McDonough in former classes. I think you're going to see another uptick in rushing in the next few years due to the size upgrade at C. Intriguing to see if Henderson moves to as well. A line like:
LT Taylor
LG Matelau
C Henderson
RG Smith
RT Stewart
That's a top of the B1G rushing attack in the making.
Case in point, you can run a press-heavy scheme when you have Devon Witherspoon. You can't when you have 5'9" Torrie Cox. Not a slight on Cox
I don't know that Henderson will be able to handle Center responsibilities
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
100%. Also, the QB that is constantly getting hit or hurried gets a bit scrambled mentally. Starts getting happy feet or hold the ball itis. Either one plays right into the D's hands.
It seems its one of the universal truths of football at any level is that all good to great defenses have a strong front 4. A strong front doesn't guarantee a great D but it is unlikely to have a real solid D without it.
Agreed…seems like TJ McMillen would be the new C based on him backfilling Kreutz throughout the season…unless we bring in someone more proven than TJ. Henderson could still start at Guard.
As I have written on a couple posts, we need the best center available in the portal. I know some of you liked Kruetz, but in my opinion he was average on his best day as a center and not very good the rest of them. I dont think we have a dependable center on the roster right now.
Lol.
Offensive linemen. Most likely to make an all academic team.
Defensive linemen. Most likely to get drunk and pull a urinal off the wall at Kams.
I don’t think Henderson will be starting at any OL position …
By all accounts, Kreutz was your leader up front and probably maximized his physical talents for his size.
But he could not generate any push up front against P4 competition. I think alot of our issues were exacerbated by his inability to move bodies in the middle.
Not that we had a great between tackle runner...but even Valentine can't accelerate after a cut in the backfield enough to overcome our interior getting blown up.
He apart of the tough conversations list?
For what its worth Walters was superior to most at scheming up against run fits and attacking weaknesses on the opposing OL. Creating advantage for his defenses which ultimately led to his defenses success.
My largest contention with Henry is that *yes* the talent is not what it was with Walters or where it needs to be but he seemed to be consistently outcoached and did not make adjustments against *BETTER* teams.
Miss me with the *good games* against Wisconsin, NW, Rutgers and Maryland ... 3/4 finished in the bottom 5 of a 18 team league.
Walters regardless of talent on the opposing O frequently had an approach or quickly adjusted to what the game flow was.
This is what happens when the DC you bring in to scheme/call plays has REAL P4 experience doing that same job. Especially helpful when it was in the SEC.
Hiring a first time, never called plays DC at a P4 school trying to win with lesser talent requires someone with a better overall coaching resume.
Since 23' when Henry took over we have not only been out talented but out schemed frequently. The reason we won was Luke playing superman nearly every game and this year that Superman luck ran out many times.
Its wonderful we have upgraded the talent and I anticipate with a larger budget we continue those efforts in the portal. As @Mr. Tibbs said. Friends don't let friends drunk drive.
If they choose to keep Henry into '26 and the defense continues its current trends do not come back here bitching about what we already knew.
Ialways remember this quote from one of my coachs, "When someone tells and shows you who they are, believe them."
Aaron Henry has done both of those since 23' when we should have parted ways the first time.
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Henderson isn’t playing center he has a hard enough time playing guard
1m4tr
Cliffmas
ThaKid, that you?
chiefini
- Rockford, Illinois
Agree. My Badger friends say/feel the same way.
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
I could easily see the staff wishing him well elsewhere. I'm leaning the other way because next year's offensive line is going to be very inexperienced. Even if the staff brings in two more transfers that have playing experience, having a returning starter could be a big boost. Admittedly, it wasn't a great performance from Henderson. Very up-and-down (7 pressures allowed against Wisconsin!), memorable penalties.
To the last part, this underscores the concerns about Bart Miller. Henderson was the best offensive line recruit under Bielema (ignoring Dennis) by a long shot. He came in and there many positive rumblings for him during the previous years. Yet, we are ~2 years into his college career and the staff isn't sure if he's worthy of starting. He's had 1,000 snaps and we can't tell if he's just a below average B1G guard or about to take off as an upperclassmen next year. Also, the staff effectively chose Henderson over Crisler last year because of the long-term potential. Crisler ended up having the best year of his career at Colorado under their terrible coaching staff.
Either the offensive line recruiting, development, or coaching is bad (or combinations of all three!).
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mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
A PSA about portal announcements. All of these announcements are coming directly from the player's representative and are designed to their benefit. For example, here is Rittenberg reporting on a Georgia State transfer:
1,400 career snaps! Didn't allow a sack this season! Sounds great!.....Except Johnson's PFF scores are lower than Brandon Henderson's across the board and he was splitting snaps near the end of the season.
1,400 career snaps! Didn't allow a sack this season! Sounds great!.....Except Johnson's PFF scores are lower than Brandon Henderson's across the board and he was splitting snaps near the end of the season.
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