Watching Cal Swanson's arm looked pretty good. Exactly, there is no windup in his throwing the deep ball. Arm looks strong and I believe we locked into a good one.
Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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Would love to get Elzy, but not gonna count in it. Would be a great get as it would really bold that upward pointing arrow. And make no mistake, it is pointing upward. The 2020 and 2021 classes combined had 3 recruits ranked 400-800 and 3 ranked 800-1000. 2022 class had 5 and 2 respectively, and thus far the 2023 has 2 and 1 respectively. Oh and this class also has a top 400 recruit. And all that doesn’t even take into account the inroads made in Illinois already.
It’s gonna take some time. Stack a few solid+ classes and get some success on field and the turnaround will really gain some momentum.
It’s gonna take some time. Stack a few solid+ classes and get some success on field and the turnaround will really gain some momentum.
Elzy committing today, correct?
Cincinnati
dang it
Hopefully we end up with Toure at WR in this class, but his brother already plays for Rutgers so would have to guess they'd have the advantage there.
Hill would be an amazing get at DB. Would feel good about him except our history of going up against Michigan is pretty tough, particularly the past few years. Karriem would be a nice get as well. We will see. Credit to the staff, at least we are in the running for top instate talent again.
Hill would be an amazing get at DB. Would feel good about him except our history of going up against Michigan is pretty tough, particularly the past few years. Karriem would be a nice get as well. We will see. Credit to the staff, at least we are in the running for top instate talent again.
IlliniFan85
- Colorado Springs, CO
Remember everyone, "If you expect disappointment, then you can never really be disappointed."
IMO, he is still very underrated. After watching his highlights, I was a fan back when Lunney offered. This kid has the zip on his throws with accuracy and the legs to be very dangerous. Cal just has that swagger and confidence that you look for.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
Ooof.
Illinivek23
- Gurnee
Has all of the tools - let's see BLJ develop him.
Not to get too far ahead here, but my guess is Sitkowski at QB in 2023 (barring any transfers). I think Collier transfers out after this year. Then I'd guess 2024 is between Leary and Swanson. I love some of the other talent in the QB room, but they flat out won't get the opportunities that the scholarship guys get. The only name that you might keep an eye out for is Michaux from what I've heard.
I just don't see Any doing well in BLJ's offense
he wouldn't even make the state finals with those numbers in Illinois lol, well not back whenMaybe I'm missing something here, but his 100m time would place in 19th in the 2022 Indiana Track and Field Finals and these guys aren't all football players. Most are going to be collegiate runners. Looks pretty quick to me.
illini80
- Forgottonia
Well, I hope you’re wrong on at least 1! QB is such a tough position to play. A strong arm means nothing if it doesn’t have accuracy with it as we’ve seen. Mobil isn’t enough. Even accuracy and strength don’t matter if the confidence and decision making isn’t strong as we saw with Peters. Putting all those factors together is pretty rare which is why there aren’t many really good QB’s in college.
Art! Thank you for catching it
Not sure where to put this, but here is a little nugget for our Illini in the EASports College Football video game...
Ps. We have fireworks after touchdowns? I look forward to seeing a lot of those this season!
I’m really looking forward to how this game turns out. Glad to see some sort of indication it’s still being made. I loved these games back in the day.
I thought it was what you meant! I agree with you also.
Do you mean Art? I disagree with you in the sense that BLJ will not have this drastically different offense. At the end of the day, Bret confirms the play. There will still be a game manager offense run here with some spice added to it. Art's experience will put him above any of the younger guys in the QB room. That doesn't mean another transfer won't come in though...
To me that experience doesn't mean much and I don't think Art has the arm to stretch the field nor the decision making to know when to stretch it and when to check it down. We are definitely going to still have a ground and pound offense, but BLJ wants to stretch the field and scheme guys like I. Williams open. Art played here because Peters was hurt not because he won the job. Now a shoulder surgery removed being in a new system when he is on equal footing with other players and DeVito brought in by BLJ I was very surprised to see he didn't transfer again.
Art needs to be a whole lot better or it won't matter that he has experience. Yes, the O will be rush oriented but, not as vanilla with some spice you are expecting. Lack of innovation is why Petersen was let go. I do agree there will be a 1 year stop gap QB.
Actually Art did win the starting job for a brief moment before getting hurt in the Penn St. game, but don't know if that's because Peters was in the doldrums or Art was looking better in practice. I seem to recall Peters was hesitant to make throws in certain situations, while Art was not, and was more of a risk taker. I'm curious to see if the surgery has helped Art's accuracy and arm strength, which were both lacking.
Personal opinion: Art can be accurate and has sufficient arm strength. His 45 yard pass to Deuce Spann is proof. But, his existing injury hampered him last year.
Hopefully, the surgery for the existing injury as well as the surgery for the game injury are fully successful and Art can have 5 or 6 Deuce Spann like passes for every WTF pass.
That said, I'm not predicting him to be the starter. Just hoping that he is fully healthy.
Hopefully, the surgery for the existing injury as well as the surgery for the game injury are fully successful and Art can have 5 or 6 Deuce Spann like passes for every WTF pass.
That said, I'm not predicting him to be the starter. Just hoping that he is fully healthy.
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