Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#651      
illinidarrin
the juiceman cometh said:
And AJ Bush rushed for over 700 yards for us in his one season.

Look, I'm not saying Joseph is AJ Bush. He has the potential to be a good QB for wherever he ends up. But against Indiana he rushed for 179 yards and 2 TDs but had a terrible overall performance when you factor in his passing. My point is that I'd love to have a QB who does everything well, but if push comes to shove I'll take a QB that passes well but can't run, vs a QB that runs well but can't pass. Joseph is a below 60% passer despite primarily playing against Sun Belt defenses. His interception rate is in the Luke 2023 category, which was bad (Luke improved greatly the past 2 seasons where his interception rate went to less than half what Joseph's was this past season). He had some good games but also had some clunkers. Against the two best teams they faced, Indiana and James Madison, he combined for 5 interceptions. Seems like a higher risk play than some of the other options, and if he's going to command top-10 money in the portal I'd be wary.
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I mean, if we want to go down that road, i could bring up Luke Altmyer as an example of a player that didn't play as well as a Sophmore, but emerged as a Junior. Joseph was only a Sophmore and could likely get better next year. The fact that Wisconsin is willing to pay that much money, that should tell people that they like him a lot, and i think other schools probably would pay him a good amount as well. I don't know if he will become a good QB or not at a higher level, but the potential is there for it as it was for Luke Altmyer.
 
#652      
Fly Illini Fly!
mhuml32 said:
My QB Wish List (removing the tippy-top of the market and removing guys being openly discussed as going to XYZ school)


Would Take + No Questions Asked
Trinidad Chambliss (1 year of eligibility if waiver approved, LSU seems to want Simmons, Chambliss would be awesome in Lunney's system)
DJ Lagway (I'm a big believer in the Illinois staff + huge ceiling for Lagway)
Beau Pribula (Penn State hated to lose him, he did really well at Missouri before the injury, Mizzou's offense struggled without him)

Higher Ceiling, Lower Floor
Lincoln Kienholz (well regarded as a prep, perfect fit for Lunney's preference of pass first but good runner, 36 career passing attempts)
Aaron Philo (shined as a backup under Buster's offense but limited experience. Might not be quite interesting enough for the Florida schools)
Kenny Minchey (well regarded as a prep, great fit for Lunney, less than 30 career passing attempts, supposedly almost won the ND job in fall)

Higher Floor, Lower Ceiling
Alonza Barnett (much more experienced than previous group but G5 QB with a sub-60% completion percentage. Good running threat)

Mixed Bag
Ethan Grunkemeyer (well regarded as a prep, did decently well down the stretch at Penn State)
Katin Houser (struggled early at MSU and did well at ECU. Not a running threat)
Jaden Craig (seeing reports that he's loved by the pros but I just don't see it. Not a running threat. Stats have been solid but haven't improved over time)

Disappointing
Aiden Chiles (got lots of snaps at Michigan State and didn't perform well, has regressed)
Billy Edwards (did well at Maryland, injured at Wisconsin. Would be a low ceiling add)
Anthony Colandrea (you don't want to face him, you also don't want him on your team)
Any backups on teams with struggling offenses (Noland, Davis, Martin, Owens, Daniels, Baker, etc.)
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I personally don't think the gap between Chiles and Lagway is that great.

Other than Chambliss, if I could choose one from that list, give me Lincoln.
 
#654      
Krombopulos_Michael
Joel Goodson said:
Land of Lincoln. get it?
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ba tss GIF
 
#656      
WeWillWhen
HensonHall71 said:
The likely paths for us are a highly touted backup looking for a starting role (ala Luke) or a lower tier power 4 or MAC type starting QB with a lot of experience. When we hear about starting QB’s from top 30 programs transferring, I doubt we can be in that market, given the supply demand imbalance
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In a bit of possible foreshadowing, Bret mentioned entering a "new world."

In this new world Illinois is, rather remarkably, an upper-half Power 2 program. And if the rumors I have heard are true, this cycle Illinois actually has the NIL resources to spend like an upper-half Power 2 program.

This next month could be wild.
 
#658      
Joel Goodson
WeWillWhen said:
In a bit of possible foreshadowing, Bret mentioned entering a "new world."

In this new world Illinois is, rather remarkably, an upper-half Power 2 program. And if the rumors I have heard are true, this cycle Illinois actually has the NIL resources to spend like an upper-half Power 2 program.

This next month could be wild.
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there's a stuff ton of money coming off the books and Coach B has provided pretty stirring proof of concept. our pitch should resonate with a significant chunk of our targets. and I have no doubt we're aiming high. am optimistic we'll be bringing in a good crop
 
#660      
STLini25
WeWillWhen said:
In a bit of possible foreshadowing, Bret mentioned entering a "new world."

In this new world Illinois is, rather remarkably, an upper-half Power 2 program. And if the rumors I have heard are true, this cycle Illinois actually has the NIL resources to spend like an upper-half Power 2 program.

This next month could be wild.
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Here are 19 schools. Difficult to say we are a top 17 school. I think calling us an average P2 program is probably a more fair assessment.

Ohio St.
Penn St.
Michigan
Indiana
Oregon
Washington
USC
Iowa
Bama
Texas
Texas AM
LSU
Florida
Tennessee
Ole Miss
Georgia
Missouri
Vandy
Oklahoma
 
#662      
DeonThomas
Excellent comment here. And I tend to agree with you --- that the quality of our new portal QB will speak to exactly where we sit in the Power 2 pecking order.

(ABSOLUTE MOST IDEAL SCENARIO = we stomp all over Tennessee this evening 38-3, and then choose from among the ten best QB's in the portal.)
 
#663      
DeonThomas
STLini25 said:
Here are 19 schools. Difficult to say we are a top 17 school. I think calling us an average P2 program is probably a more fair assessment.

Ohio St.
Penn St.
Michigan
Indiana
Oregon
Washington
USC
Iowa
Bama
Texas
Texas AM
LSU
Florida
Tennessee
Ole Miss
Georgia
Missouri
Vandy
Oklahoma
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Pulling from your list above...........

16. Iowa
17. Washington
18. Vanderbilt
19. Mizzou

I'd say Bret Bielema's 2025 brand of Illini football (in this new NCAA world) compares very favorably to those last 4 teams. So perhaps top half, and absolutely hovering in the area of "AVERAGE".
 
#669      
Bbuck21
DeonThomas said:
Pulling from your list above...........

16. Iowa
17. Washington
18. Vanderbilt
19. Mizzou

I'd say Bret Bielema's 2025 brand of Illini football (in this new NCAA world) compares very favorably to those last 4 teams. So perhaps top half, and absolutely hovering in the area of "AVERAGE".
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My reaction exactly
 
#670      
illiniwil
weighing in on olano. i would love to see him back but if we are 15-20 on the dollar available
scale, we probably need to focus on "bang for your buck". that isn't a kicker, but QB, WR, OT,
DT, LB, DB. and maybe multiple WR's, DT's, DB's and LB's., maybe a center, Interior lineman too.
even our big dollar guys money is going to run out.
 
#672      
IlliniWu
illiniwil said:
weighing in on olano. i would love to see him back but if we are 15-20 on the dollar available
scale, we probably need to focus on "bang for your buck". that isn't a kicker, but QB, WR, OT,
DT, LB, DB. and maybe multiple WR's, DT's, DB's and LB's., maybe a center, Interior lineman too.
even our big dollar guys money is going to run out.
Click to expand...


That is bang for your buck. If the motto previously was we'd rather pay the guys who have earned it as opposed to spending tons of money on unproven guys, this is the type of litmus test for that type of stuff (With added $ maybe that stance will change as well because personally I'm throwing the bank at Cook-Johnson). You don't do a great job of recruiting an AA K, having him in so many big moments including several big game winning/tying wins, and then let him go over some money when he'll likely be an All American K this upcoming season. Pay him (Again if it's just a matter of money).

This is a lot of hypothetical about nothing (Reported in media so far anyway), so I'll make this my last post on the matter.


Interested to see some moves on the recruiting/portal front. I'm sure we'll see more of that once the bowl game is over today (Need that W).

I-L-L
 
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