TentakilRex
- Land O Insects between Quincy-Macomb-Jacksonville
Not so good, but seem better this year and from a tough conference. Also pound for pound enrollment best helmets in HS football, even beating Texas schools
Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Whoah. He definitely looks the part.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
He would most likely start if not in the top 2. Need him bad!
Would be a huge get let's get it done Brett and company
Would likely solidify the tackle spots (especially if Priestly returns).
I didn't know priestly was a possible returnee it'd be nice to have some to return on the line other then Henderson.im really curious to see what we are going to do in the portal for the online but if we can get TJ committed on his visit would be a massive get as oline and dline seem to be the most expensive positions to get other qb which thats also another question would be would are we also going to look for qb in the portal or roll with qb room we.TJ would be a massive haul 
he commits to the beloved
he commits to the belovedFishers Bunnies?!!. I used to run with some Fisher guys back in high school. Crazy times.
We'll need at least 2-3 starter level transfers this offseason
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
Can someone really in the know comment on our D line prospects? Commits, targets & guys already on roster that aren't on the field yet. My suspicion is a lot of our overall defensive issues come from a lack of a 2nd high level pass rusher to go alongside Jacas. That forces us to be "vanilla" and conservative in coverage.
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
I'm not telling folks how to "fan", so do as you please. But I would say we need to be honest we ourselves on why an in-state, blue chip TE would come to Illinois based on what Illinois TEs have done under Bielema. It makes way more sense to go to a Texas, Georgia, Iowa, etc. because they have shown an offense that substantially involves their tight ends.
That said, you also can realize that Illinois is doing a lot with their WRs and likely are going to attract more and more prep talent in that position.
That said, you also can realize that Illinois is doing a lot with their WRs and likely are going to attract more and more prep talent in that position.
Part of the reluctance to use our TE's is that our line needs the help from extra blockers. It's been one of the few problems we've had since BB took the job. Shore up the recruiting/development on the line = ability to use our TE's more in the passing game.
Ran out of time to edit, but just a quick look at stats revealed that our TEs have 11 receptions. That is not all that much out of line with Oregon, Indiana, Georgia, or Iowa. Iowa has a few more, but point being maybe it is a bit of mystery why in state TEs aren't sticking around? I still say, shore up the line and start sending the TEs on a few more seam routes and that will help change the perception of low usage in our offense.
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Unfortunately it seemed that most of the TFL's by Purdue were because of missed blocks by Illinois TE's.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
I know the game has changed a bit, but my sense is Bret will always default to TE's that are more blockers than pass catchers. He's a ground n pound guy by nature & results so far have shown that to be pretty sound strategy. Would be nice to have a guy that can exploit the seams down the middle. Maybe we can get a hybrid type that can block enough to be serviceable in the run game.
illinidarrin
- from parts unknown
He would be a nice pick up for Illinois. I hope they have interest. If you lose Beatty, you have to have a replacement.
mhuml32
Gesture of Northern Aggression
Picking only this year (small sample) and different schools than I mentioned is somewhat changing the argument. I was going off of a post of a top in-state TE recruit listing finalists. But going off of your list:
- Georgia is having their first bad TE year in a while. Even then, they likely will outproduce Illinois in receptions and receiving yards.
- Indiana isn't a blue blood for tight ends. I couldn't name a prominent Indiana TE over the past 25 years.
- Iowa has outproduced Illinois in TE production every year since almost forever.
- Oregon has the top ranked NFL draft eligible tight end by PFF and many other outlets.
I'm open to the suggestion that more blocking in reducing the potential sell for Illinois to prep TEs, but Michigan, Texas, Georgia use their tight ends a lot for run blocking and that hasn't restricted them (those schools are also all blue bloods). But to your point, Tanner Arkin has more run blocking snaps than any other B1G + SEC tight end (17 more!).
Taylor on one side and Slaughter on the other. Bookend tackles for two years. McMillan at center. Add a guard and a new OL coach and we are set
Here are the 3 schools in his top-3 list for the 2024 season
Texas - 74 rec, 873 yds, 7 TD (3 TEs got touches)
OSU - 42 rec, 448 yds, 4 TD (5 TEs got touches)
UGA - 62 rec, 799 yds, 7 TD (4 TEs got touches)
Here's us: 20 rec, 160 yds, 4 TD (2 TEs got touches)
So a lot more production and a lot more TEs getting involved at any of those other schools. Just generally a lot more opportunity.
Yep, don't disagree. I was just looking at some of the top offenses in the league as a quick comparison.
I'm never worried about these unproven TE's. Luke Ford was rated higher than all of them and he was a total bust. Spend your money(NIL) on tight ends that have been productive at the college level right now. Nebraska and Oklahoma had great tight ends in college and they ran the wishbone. Illinois loses these kids because of NIL nowadays. The recruits all say they want Illinois to be on an upward projection and be consistently good and guess what, Illinois under Bielema is doing that now. I wish recruits would stop bullshiting and say I want the biggest bag.
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