Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

[Ramrod2010]

Good post and I agree with much of it. I think our D-line will be legit as early as next year and start causing people some real problems. O-Line may take a little longer but you're right they are adding real talent there.

The only other pro I would throw in, is that while on paper they are unheralded, there is one thing in common with our RB, WR, DB and LB prospects. Speed. Track speed. They are mostly undersized, but mostly burners too. Similar to Zook, we are loading the roster with elite athletes. Zook couldn't coach em up, but the NFL sure noticed them. Let's hope this staff can turn that potential in to production.

Oh and fingers crossed for a grad transfer QB with or without Taylor

I like this line of thinking. I also never really thought like this in regards to the players under Zook.

 

[FT35]

I think we all want a Graduate transfer at QB next year whether Coran comes here or not. However, as we've seen with recruiting in general, it's hard to get kids to come here. We have a very small window to work with when it comes to graduate transfers and these players are usually highly coveted. We're also looking at a much smaller group of players to target as opposed to the infinite amount of High School kids available.

These players also probably need to have some pre existing connection with someone on the staff. DiNovo had a connection to Abraham but that obviously didn't pan out.

If the rumors are true and McGee is out then hopefully a new OC has those connections.

It also needs to be a dual threat guy. A pro style QB does us no good next year. Just watch the Indiana game and see what happened to JGJ. We only have 5 OL on the roster with more than one start and four of them are underclassmen. The pass protection just isn't going to magically get better in 9 months. It'll take years.

This is why we'll probably end up sticking with Thomas/Rivers and end up taking our lumps in 2018.

I'm really down about the fact that Coran could potentially not come here. I know this is nothing new but I was hoping that this situation would get better as far as his academics go. I've been watching him since he was a Sophomore in high school and he has that "it" factor. He has all the tools to succeed at Illinois but if he doesn't have the grades then there's nothing the staff can do about that.

I wonder if he could end up at NIU as they have offered him and Marques Cox signed there today. We really don't know if this is similar to the Walker situation where he was a full qualifier, however.

Placing guys at JUCOs and landing them 2 years later almost never works out.

 

[EJ33]

Good post and I agree with much of it. I think our D-line will be legit as early as next year and start causing people some real problems. O-Line may take a little longer but you're right they are adding real talent there.

The only other pro I would throw in, is that while on paper they are unheralded, there is one thing in common with our RB, WR, DB and LB prospects. Speed. Track speed. They are mostly undersized, but mostly burners too. Similar to Zook, we are loading the roster with elite athletes. Zook couldn't coach em up, but the NFL sure noticed them. Let's hope this staff can turn that potential in to production.

Oh and fingers crossed for a grad transfer QB with or without Taylor

Good point. Seems like a smart strategy too - when all else fails go for speed.

 

[EJ33]

I think we all want a Graduate transfer at QB next year whether Coran comes here or not. However, as we've seen with recruiting in general, it's hard to get kids to come here. We have a very small window to work with when it comes to graduate transfers and these players are usually highly coveted. We're also looking at a much smaller group of players to target as opposed to the infinite amount of High School kids available.

These players also probably need to have some pre existing connection with someone on the staff. DiNovo had a connection to Abraham but that obviously didn't pan out.

If the rumors are true and McGee is out then hopefully a new OC has those connections.

It also needs to be a dual threat guy. A pro style QB does us no good next year. Just watch the Indiana game and see what happened to JGJ. We only have 5 OL on the roster with more than one start and four of them are underclassmen. The pass protection just isn't going to magically get better in 9 months. It'll take years.

This is why we'll probably end up sticking with Thomas/Rivers and end up taking our lumps in 2018.

I'm really down about the fact that Coran could potentially not come here. I know this is nothing new but I was hoping that this situation would get better as far as his academics go. I've been watching him since he was a Sophomore in high school and he has that "it" factor. He has all the tools to succeed at Illinois but if he doesn't have the grades then there's nothing the staff can do about that.

I wonder if he could end up at NIU as they have offered him and Marques Cox signed there today. We really don't know if this is similar to the Walker situation where he was a full qualifier, however.

Placing guys at JUCOs and landing them 2 years later almost never works out.

I've been assuming Lovie gives McGee at least one more year given their longstanding relationship.

 

[IllinoisFanAtFSU]

https://247sports.com/college/illinois/Season/2018-Football/Commits

To be honest, I don't get the negativity about today. There are 16 commits signed, sealed, and delivered. Going into today it would have been wild to expect any more. If Brown signs we are up to 17, 2 of which are 4 star guys (2 more than last year). I expect that we will get 1-3 more commitments during this period.

The only real negatives from today:
-Coran Taylor cannot sign yet due to academics: nothing that the staff could have done differently here
-Craddieth committed elsewhere: this is the one miss that hurts. But as always, this is recruiting and you lose a fair amount of battles.

I think that this class will finish ranked higher than the previous one. Today did nothing to change that belief.

 

[blmillini]

I think we all want a Graduate transfer at QB next year whether Coran comes here or not. However, as we've seen with recruiting in general, it's hard to get kids to come here. We have a very small window to work with when it comes to graduate transfers and these players are usually highly coveted. We're also looking at a much smaller group of players to target as opposed to the infinite amount of High School kids available.

These players also probably need to have some pre existing connection with someone on the staff. DiNovo had a connection to Abraham but that obviously didn't pan out.

If the rumors are true and McGee is out then hopefully a new OC has those connections.

It also needs to be a dual threat guy. A pro style QB does us no good next year. Just watch the Indiana game and see what happened to JGJ. We only have 5 OL on the roster with more than one start and four of them are underclassmen. The pass protection just isn't going to magically get better in 9 months. It'll take years.

This is why we'll probably end up sticking with Thomas/Rivers and end up taking our lumps in 2018.

I'm really down about the fact that Coran could potentially not come here. I know this is nothing new but I was hoping that this situation would get better as far as his academics go. I've been watching him since he was a Sophomore in high school and he has that "it" factor. He has all the tools to succeed at Illinois but if he doesn't have the grades then there's nothing the staff can do about that.

I wonder if he could end up at NIU as they have offered him and Marques Cox signed there today. We really don't know if this is similar to the Walker situation where he was a full qualifier, however.

Placing guys at JUCOs and landing them 2 years later almost never works out.

On the peoria news tonight they talked as if he expects to sign by Friday. I was assuming maybe they had to wait for his semester grades. It still is not good to cut it that close but sounds better than we have been discussing here.

 

[mhuml32]

On the peoria news tonight they talked as if he expects to sign by Friday. I was assuming maybe they had to wait for his semester grades. It still is not good to cut it that close but sounds better than we have been discussing here.

I believe the tentativeness being expressed by those on this board is from previous academic situations, where it always starts with hoping it's taken care of in the next few days, then once grades are posted, then next semester, then after summer school, before slowly fading away. Really hoping this case proves me (us) wrong.

 

[IllinoisFanAtFSU]

https://www.hudl.com/profile/5304133/sydney-brown

In the meantime.... WOW. Sydney Brown came out of nowhere, but he has the most fun highlight tape in the whole class. Yes, it is just a highlight. But by the end of it I was left thinking that we will have the best safety duo in the B1G by the time he's a junior and Bennett Williams is a senior.

The tape is that good, give it a watch!

 

[BMo79]

So at the end of the first day:
(1) most of the Illini's prior verbal commitments are in the fold;
(2) potentially lost one of their two QBs (I sure hope not);
(3) picked up one way-under-the-radar DB; and,
(4) whiffed on a half-dozen uncommitted/potential flips.

Even if Brown, Slaughter and Taylor sign by the end of the week, I still think this class is behind last year's. Staff has MUCH work to do between now and February, and a lot fewer players left on the board.

This wasn't a BAD day, but it certainly wasn't highly positive either, IMHO.

Brown fairly certain and Slaughter will both be Illini Friday, Slaughter just waiting on school to be done and family to be around,

this class is ahead of last year, if you just go by the same amount signed. Avery and Brown (when he signs) are both better then anyone last year.

Rivers alone is a major upgrade at QB, Taylor signing makes that even more of an upgrade

once everything is done friday and we see what we have left, then see what happens with the staff. I think most will agree things are head of last year going into Jan.

People crying/complaining about offers getting pulled, are the same ones complaining about players ranks. The staff took the guys they felt were the best out of the ones they had offered. you cant take 12 DBs you have to just take the ones you think will turn out the best

I do think we will have a new OC after X-mas so do some recruits so that might really help round out the class

all in all the OL added some good pieces, the DL didnt add much but one very good one, but with as many as we added last year it wasnt a big need.If/when Brown commit's and they decide if he will play DT or OL and the same for K Green either way we will be adding 2 big DTs into the mix this year

 

[Joel Goodson]

Brown fairly certain and Slaughter will both be Illini Friday, Slaughter just waiting on school to be done and family to be around,

this class is ahead of last year, if you just go by the same amount signed. Avery and Brown (when he signs) are both better then anyone last year.

Rivers alone is a major upgrade at QB, Taylor signing makes that even more of an upgrade

once everything is done friday and we see what we have left, then see what happens with the staff. I think most will agree things are head of last year going into Jan.

People crying/complaining about offers getting pulled, are the same ones complaining about players ranks. The staff took the guys they felt were the best out of the ones they had offered. you cant take 12 DBs you have to just take the ones you think will turn out the best

I do think we will have a new OC after X-mas so do some recruits so that might really help round out the class

all in all the OL added some good pieces, the DL didnt add much but one very good one, but with as many as we added last year it wasnt a big need.If/when Brown commit's and they decide if he will play DT or OL and the same for K Green either way we will be adding 2 big DTs into the mix this year

VG analysis.

 

[CIIF]

I live in the metro east (Illinois side) of the St. Louis area and drive across the river to work every day. Today on my way home, I noticed for the first time a new bright orange Fighting Illini billboard with Lovie on it. What is significant about this? It seems they “coincidentally” placed the billboard right at the I-270 westbound exit that is no more than 1 mile away from Trinity Catholic HS.

I took this picture yesterday. It sure is hard to miss the orange!

 

[Deleted member 654622]

Brown fairly certain and Slaughter will both be Illini Friday, Slaughter just waiting on school to be done and family to be around,

https://247sports.com/college/illinois/Season/2018-Football/Commits

247 already has Slaughter listed as signed. I believe that puts truth to everyone speculating on his delay till Friday.

 

[JDHalfrack]

Maybe I'm just a noob at evaluating this stuff, but I also don't understand the negativity surrounding this signing class thus far. We signed positions of need. I feel like we're all held up on two things: numbers and missing on Craddieth. If you take that out, there wasn't too much to be disappointed about the guys that signed yesterday. I think the quality of player is better than last year (*on paper* ... and some of the guys that were "not as good" on paper last year developed quite nicely in one year).

Personally, I think quotes like this:

Even if Brown, Slaughter and Taylor sign by the end of the week, I still think this class is behind last year's. Staff has MUCH work to do between now and February, and a lot fewer players left on the board.

are WAY off base. If we can still pull those three, I think we are already ahead of last year, and we still have 2 months to find guys to fill up the numbers.

I think this class is shaping up quite nicely. The problem I think is bigger is that the rest of the B1G also seems to be recruiting nicely... We may finish with a top 50 class and still be somewhere in the 10th-14th best B1G class...

Again, I'm not an expert at this stuff though.

 

[BWBW]

I, too, liked the class so far. Get a few more players in February who project to at least contribute over the next few years and it is on to recruiting the next class. One more class of this caliber (or better) and we'll have three solid classes and we should at least become competitive in our conference.

I'm really interested in what staff changes may occur. Rumors on this board are interesting, to say the least.

 

[Dan]

We're not done yet!

SIGNED: JUCO DB out of Texas.

Welcome to the #Illini family, Nick Walker

https://twitter.com/IlliniFootball/status/943848914893115393

 

[South Farms]

I think the class so far is adequate. Considering everything with the program since 2008, pretty good. Regardless of the playing time you can promise these lads, recruiting with our W-L record the past 10 years is not easy.


Now the staff has 6 weeks to target the 8-10 uncommitted/unsigned guys they really want. I think we will be pleasantly surprised when all is said and done.

 

[BigStan97]

We have officially gone JUCO. Not the best look. If Hobbs Watkins Adams were good enough to play last year, are they not good enough next year with another year of development?

I would have rather stay away from JUCO and go HS route. We went full HS route last year, keep it up, keep developing young kids.

Going JUCO, to me, seems like desperation, stop gap, last option, when you are talking about a program rebuild. You need HS kids that have 5 yrs to play 4 to develop the program and roster. Not JUCO who are here for a quick stay and leave- then leave that position thin.

 

[thunderwear]

We have officially gone JUCO. Not the best look. If Hobbs Watkins Adams were good enough to play last year, are they not good enough next year with another year of development?

I would have rather stay away from JUCO and go HS route. We went full HS route last year, keep it up, keep developing young kids.

Going JUCO, to me, seems like desperation, stop gap, last option, when you are talking about a program rebuild. You need HS kids that have 5 yrs to play 4 to develop the program and roster. Not JUCO who are here for a quick stay and leave- then leave that position thin.

In general that is the case, but Lovie came with a pretty empty roster, I think adding leadership and seniority to a roster to support player development and space out scholarships can be beneficial

 

[DrewD007]

We have officially gone JUCO. Not the best look. If Hobbs Watkins Adams were good enough to play last year, are they not good enough next year with another year of development?

I would have rather stay away from JUCO and go HS route. We went full HS route last year, keep it up, keep developing young kids.

Going JUCO, to me, seems like desperation, stop gap, last option, when you are talking about a program rebuild. You need HS kids that have 5 yrs to play 4 to develop the program and roster. Not JUCO who are here for a quick stay and leave- then leave that position thin.

It’s adding depth. Team was decimated by injuries last year.

 

[BigStan97]

In general that is the case, but Lovie came with a pretty empty roster, I think adding leadership and seniority to a roster to support player development and space out scholarships can be beneficial

Agree, the one good thing is the JUCO is a DB where we have Hobbs, Adams, Williams, DeGroot along with all the HS DBs in this current class. Getting a JUCO at a position where we already have young prospects in is less alarming.

 

[IlliniJim20]

We have officially gone JUCO. Not the best look. If Hobbs Watkins Adams were good enough to play last year, are they not good enough next year with another year of development?

I would have rather stay away from JUCO and go HS route. We went full HS route last year, keep it up, keep developing young kids.

Going JUCO, to me, seems like desperation, stop gap, last option, when you are talking about a program rebuild. You need HS kids that have 5 yrs to play 4 to develop the program and roster. Not JUCO who are here for a quick stay and leave- then leave that position thin.

Umm, did I miss something Stan? One juco db and your post sounds of doom and gloom,

Brown is a project, not for sure about the others. Signing a juco db will (hopefully) allow some of the incoming guys to redshirt, get stronger, faster and some experience.

Hopefully he can provide some leadership as well.

Sorry, I don't get how one guy is a "bad Look."

 

[Deleted member 654622]

I feel as if it will take 2 more years before we really start seeing a jump in our recruiting. We have/will have 3 major factors:
1. NFL coaching
2. Great academic tradition (fluid to each recruit)
3. Top of the line facilities

I went back and looked at Maryland's recruiting classes the last 4 years by national rank -
https://247sports.com/Season/2017-Football/CompositeTeamRankings

And while their new Under Armour facility was being built, they ranked 41,47 and 41st.
According to this article
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/...-sp-cole-field-house-maryland-0802-story.html
it just opened up in August of this year and still isn't totally complete. Last year their National Rank jumped to 18th and currently sit at 18th this year.
I would like to think in a few years we will start seeing some players get drafted. Add that to our new facilities and the jump will come.

 

[deadpool81]

I think Walker has 3 years of eligibility left

 

[Deleted member 8405]

Looks like Walker is from st Louis and still has 3 years of eligibility remaining.

 

[FiveStar]

Yeah we didn’t recruit a juco linebacker last year that ended up leading our team in tackles did we?