Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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DaChief4ever
- Urbana
Second the coverage.....looked pretty dismal. Looks extra bad when you're up here in the stands and see a wide open receiver waving for the ball with no Illini close...whew.....
Well, ok, 22 receptions. Prior to that, who? Maybe Dilger? Boso?
Pretty sure people were excited about Lou Dorsey and his performance on the field catching passes at TE his Freshman year before the issue.....so what....it's been like a little over a season?
Edit...didn't read the above before posting.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
If we had a competent QB, Dorsey would have had 50+ receptions. As a true freshman.
Hoomanawanui had 25 in '08.
Pretty sure that was the knock on Miller at Oklahoma. Though they are grading on a different scale, they have a lot of really good WRs there.
BananaShampoo
Captain 'Paign
- Phoenix, AZ
Hoomanawanui and Jeff Cumberland in the Zook years come to mind.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
The commercial viability of Underwood's 2019-20 season certainly makes any thought of panic firing him right now (which was probably fanciful to begin with) very improbable.
But if Whitman tries to retain Lovie after another failed season, the worm is going to turn on him in terms of public perception. I don't believe that will happen, but it's something to be aware of for those whose perception of Whitman is currently all sugarplums and gumdrops. He hasn't taken a punch yet.
Cumberland immediately comes to mind for me
NBB1979
UIUCFAN1
- Springfield, IL
you are a very difficult one to please - what would the football and basketball teams have to accomplish to satisfy you?
ILFaninFL
- Nature Coast in Florida
Better question ... when have we had a TE with his talent?
A superior TE can cause matchup nightmares. Too fast for a linebacker to cover one-on-one and too big for a DB. I have faith they will put in plays to take advantage of the matchup problems he will bring.
Hoo man was pretty good.
I guess the definition of “another failed season” is important. If the Illini go 5-7 Lovie should be retained. 2020 is the year that matters most.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
LOLOLOL
I am 32 years old. The last time Illinois had a winning record in the Big Ten AND made the relevant postseason (NCAA Tourney or Bowl) I was an undergraduate student at U of I. EVERY other power conference school has done that at least twice since. I think it might be three times now, I haven't looked up the numbers lately.
Difficult to please, hoo boy I am going to be chuckling about that one for days.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Yes, we've been horrid. Especially, in football. Thing is, when you're way down in the hole, it's going to take awhile to climb out.
Deleted member 746094
D
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I would actually be disappointed if they brought in another grad transfer QB unless we pulled a rabbit out of our hat and it was the kid from ND or Hurts. Of which neither would even reply to Lovie’s text beyond “no thanks”.
IW is going to be given a shot at QB. Probably a couple shots. MJ looked to have the ability to lead this offense. We also have two other R-Sophs in the QB room. Bringing in the wrong grad transfer could leave us with very little depth at the position. With the new 4 game redshirt rule I would almost guarantee one of our current QB’s, if not two, take advantage of the rule once the depth chart is set come August. The only QB recruit I am aware of is currently a sophomore at ESL and from the game film I saw could be out of our reach if he continues to progress. My main concern is that we would always be reaching outside the program for the next best thing. Eventually we will have to build depth through recruiting high school QBs. I think the 4 game redshirt rule is going to effect the QB position negatively in college football. There are more Kelly Bryants and Shields than there are Jalen Hurts in the world. Give IW, MJ, Coran and Robinson a chance this year to work out the depth chart. If they are all a bust, with the weapons we have for 2020 then we can go rent a QB for a year. JMO.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
He hasn't been a public figure (as an administrator) for very long and has been operating with a pretty deep reservoir of goodwill.
It's not like he'll die or something, I'm sure he'll be fine. I'm just saying that goodwill goes away if he won't fire Lovie after another losing season.
Lovie was un-criticizeable among Illini fans, now he's not. Underwood has crossed that line this year as well. It's a different atmosphere.
Almost everything has gone the way the staff had planned over the past few weeks
There are a couple of more spots that they'd like to fill to push the starters, but really this has been a very successful recruiting post-season!
There are a couple of more spots that they'd like to fill to push the starters, but really this has been a very successful recruiting post-season!FT35
- Naperville
He would have to get a waiver.
Keep in mind that you have to sit out if you transfer whether your redshirted not.
I doubt they'd use a scholarship on Meadors. He hasn't played since 2016 and wasn't even on the roster last year.
He was mentioned as being part of this year's Senior class so the staff doesn't expect him to be back.
FT35
- Naperville
https://gradtransfertracker.com/potential-transfers-2019/
I can't say I'm crazy about any of the QBs on this list except for Wimbush. Deandre Johnson could be interesting but there has to be a reason he wasn't getting playing time at FAU.
I'd roll with Rivers/Williams.
FT35
- Naperville
I agree. We have 4 scholarship QBs on the roster. One of them needs to step up.
Rivers looked very capable of running this offense. He showed a lot of poise and played with a lot of confidence. A better group of WRs to throw to would help him.
I would prefer IW but don't think he has the size to play every down this fall. He can contribute in certain packages.
If IW would have been able to enroll early then I'd have more confidence in his ability to take over this Fall. With the Rod Smith offense, that would have been ideal as IW and Corbin in the same backfield would be deadly. Arizona was third in the country in rushing yards in 2016 and with this OL, a QB with the running ability of IW would be tough to defend.
FT35
- Naperville
Are you talking about Robinson?
People were raving about him during the first two weeks of training camp. However, people need to keep in mind that Robinson has had a private coach since he was 10 as he comes from a very wealthy family. I'm not knocking him for that but anyone with that kind of background is going to look more polished than other true Freshmen in the first couple weeks of camp. The other Freshmen QBs will just look like ordinary guys in comparison. Rivers didn't even play QB in High School until he was a Junior. His offer from Iowa State was as a TE which was the position he played before moving to QB.
Once camp was closed to the media, Rivers took over as the #2 QB and never looked back.
There's a reason why Robinson was a Montana commit one point in spite of the fact that he got a lot of exposure in High School. I'll be interested to see what he can do this Spring.
I know a lot of people have given up on Taylor but I think he could have the highest ceiling out last year's incoming Freshmen. His size/athleticism makes him an appealing option but there must be something wrong if he was behind Miller for the entire season. I think Mike55 said that the staff didn't have much confidence in Taylor's ability to wrap his head around a play book so maybe it's just taking him more time to adjust. He needs to have a nice Spring in order to stay in the mix.
I actually hope all of these guys stick around. There have been years where we have been down to our third string QBs and were a snap away from a walk-on taking snaps.
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