Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#226      
bigcityillini
therealmiket86 said:
Rusk had 217 yards receiving and 1 td at Illinois. He’s also extremely limited as a blocker. I hardly call that 4 star production.
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Why does his last stop matter only? It’s a body of work. He’s had production at the D1 level which is on par with other 4 stars in the portal. It’s not a position that has a lot of depth. Production wise (your main point), he is definitely a 4 star when compared to his peers in the portal lol

Let's use the guys right next to him in the portal rankings

Doiran Thomas - 56 catches, 560 yards, 4 TD's (4 star)
Brody Foley - 37 catches, 528 yards, and 7 TD's (4 star)
Hunter Welcing - 39 catches, 316 yards, 2 TD's (4 star)
Walker Lyons - 26 catches, 259 yards, 2 TD's (4 star)

Rusk had 58 catches, 724 yards, 7 TD's. Again.... on paper. He is more accomplished than most of the portal and his peers... thus making the 4 star ranking make sense.
 
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#227      
Ryllini
bigcityillini said:
Why does his last stop matter only? It’s a body of work. He’s had production at the D1 level which is on par with other 4 stars in the portal. It’s not a position that has a lot of depth. Production wise (your main point), he is definitely a 4 star when compared to his peers in the portal lol

Let's use the guys right next to him in the portal rankings

Doiran Thomas - 56 catches, 560 yards, 4 TD's (4 star)
Brody Foley - 37 catches, 528 yards, and 7 TD's (4 star)
Hunter Welcing - 39 catches, 316 yards, 2 TD's (4 star)
Walker Lyons - 26 catches, 259 yards, 2 TD's (4 star)

Rusk had 58 catches, 724 yards, 7 TD's. Again.... on paper. He is more accomplished than most of the portal and his peers... thus making the 4 star ranking make sense.
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When Rusk stepped up in level this year, his numbers speak for themselves. Pedestrian. I do believe the Lunney system is not going to create monster numbers for a tight end though.
 
#228      
Huggies5
Old.Edgy said:
This whole thread has been one huge downer... Reading this I've been thinking that we have been transported back to the Valek or Moeller days of Illinois football... what a bummer ! ! Wake me when we get teleported back to the current coaching staff...
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I think Indiana's success has a lot to do with it. They are in the national title game in year 2 at one of the worst P4 football programs in the country. We're seeing what they're doing and asking ourselves: "Why can't we?"
 
#229      
therealmiket86
Ryllini said:
When Rusk stepped up in level this year, his numbers speak for themselves. Pedestrian. I do believe the Lunney system is not going to create monster numbers for a tight end though.
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The problem with Rusk is he could only go in when we were down and needed to throw. It’s hard to have a guy who’s that limited as a blocker
 
#230      
Ryllini
therealmiket86 said:
The problem with Rusk is he could only go in when we were down and needed to throw. It’s hard to have a guy who’s that limited as a blocker
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Which tracks as I think his two biggest weeks were consecutive against OSU and Washington.
 
#231      
bigcityillini
Ryllini said:
When Rusk stepped up in level this year, his numbers speak for themselves. Pedestrian. I do believe the Lunney system is not going to create monster numbers for a tight end though.
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I mean he tore his ACL…. Sorta hard to leave that out of the equation right? 217 yards and 1 touchdown isn’t a world beater. But look at his peers in the portal… he’s not far off from their production either.

Would you also say that stepping up a level in comp will affect Williams and the Penn transfer? Because if your stance is that stepping up a level will make stats “speak from themselves” why are people confident in them?
 
#232      
joeybcrazy13
Sad Cry GIF by Piñata Farms: The Meme App
 
#233      
Ryllini
bigcityillini said:
I mean he tore his ACL…. Sorta hard to leave that out of the equation right? 217 yards and 1 touchdown isn’t a world beater. But look at his peers in the portal… he’s not far off from their production either.

Would you also say that stepping up a level in comp will affect Williams and the Penn transfer? Because if your stance is that stepping up a level will make stats “speak from themselves” why are people confident in them?
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ACL hurts and I can only go off what is on tape. They could be nothing, they could be something. Have to play. Those other guys have atleast been playing up their whole time. USC, Northwestern, New Mexico, etc...
 
#234      
ptgrd23
therealmiket86 said:
The problem with Rusk is he could only go in when we were down and needed to throw. It’s hard to have a guy who’s that limited as a blocker
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Tight end who can't block. Might was well just substitute another wide receiver. Its not like our tight ends were great runners after they caught the ball.

We were 4 deep at WR with Beatty (80), Dixon (35) Clements (35) , and Bowick (22). We rarely played more than 3 of them. We just have to accept that Lunney does not call tight end passes very often (primarily in red zone).

Next year with non Luke QB we may see more two TE sets but both are going to be good blockers. Notice in NFL 13 set was very popular.
 
#236      
ptgrd23
Hence all P4 coaches fired
- Penn State, LSU, Kentucky, Vtech, FL, Cal, MSU, Auburn, UCLA. Less patience to build a program.
 
#237      
bigcityillini
Ryllini said:
ACL hurts and I can only go off what is on tape. They could be nothing, they could be something. Have to play. Those other guys have atleast been playing up their whole time. USC, Northwestern, New Mexico, etc...
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I just feel like it’s sorta hard to judge a player who torn his ACL and went up a level. Double whammy. I’d say tho… you should really check out the stats of the other 4 star tight ends in the portal.

The northwestern TE you just mentioned had 296 yards and 2 TDs last season. He’s rated as a 4 star. Is that really that much different than rusk?
 
#238      
the juiceman cometh
bigcityillini said:
Why does his last stop matter only? It’s a body of work. He’s had production at the D1 level which is on par with other 4 stars in the portal. It’s not a position that has a lot of depth. Production wise (your main point), he is definitely a 4 star when compared to his peers in the portal lol

Let's use the guys right next to him in the portal rankings

Doiran Thomas - 56 catches, 560 yards, 4 TD's (4 star)
Brody Foley - 37 catches, 528 yards, and 7 TD's (4 star)
Hunter Welcing - 39 catches, 316 yards, 2 TD's (4 star)
Walker Lyons - 26 catches, 259 yards, 2 TD's (4 star)

Rusk had 58 catches, 724 yards, 7 TD's. Again.... on paper. He is more accomplished than most of the portal and his peers... thus making the 4 star ranking make sense.
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So let me get this straight:

A G5 transfer does not move the needle because those nice G5 stats may not translate. But we're going to say Rusk gets a pass on his lackluster contribution at Illinois because of his FCS production?

Also the comparison doesn't hold up under further review. For Doiran Thomas and Brody Foley, you're talking about a single season of production. For Rusk you're adding up two years, one of which was in the FCS. And if you just look at this past, most recent season, every single guy you listed was more productive than Rusk, and most of them have two+ years of eligibility where Rusk only has one. And to flip on it's head the idea that these rankings are based on production, the two guys on your list that are ranked higher than Rusk are the two that have the least career production (Welcing and Lyons).

All this talk about the predictive value of the rankings made me curious about another way of looking at it, so I compared the transfer portal team ratings for the SEC and Big Ten for 2025. The middle of the pack team for the SEC was South Carolina, with a score of 46.18. That would have been good for #4 in the Big Ten behind only Oregon, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. The SEC had 2 teams that scored better than the B1G's #1, and another 4 teams that would have slotted in before the B1G's #2. Compare the SEC vs the ACC or the Big12, you get similar results. If you put a lot of stock in those rankings, you'd think the SEC would dominate. But they didn't. In fact, whether in the bowl games or the playoffs, the SEC was clearly the weakest performer of the P4 conferences.
 
#239      
illini0440
the juiceman cometh said:
So let me get this straight:

A G5 transfer does not move the needle because those nice G5 stats may not translate. But we're going to say Rusk gets a pass on his lackluster contribution at Illinois because of his FCS production?

Also the comparison doesn't hold up under further review. For Doiran Thomas and Brody Foley, you're talking about a single season of production. For Rusk you're adding up two years, one of which was in the FCS. And if you just look at this past, most recent season, every single guy you listed was more productive than Rusk, and most of them have two+ years of eligibility where Rusk only has one. And to flip on it's head the idea that these rankings are based on production, the two guys on your list that are ranked higher than Rusk are the two that have the least career production (Welcing and Lyons).

All this talk about the predictive value of the rankings made me curious about another way of looking at it, so I compared the transfer portal team ratings for the SEC and Big Ten for 2025. The middle of the pack team for the SEC was South Carolina, with a score of 46.18. That would have been good for #4 in the Big Ten behind only Oregon, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. The SEC had 2 teams that scored better than the B1G's #1, and another 4 teams that would have slotted in before the B1G's #2. Compare the SEC vs the ACC or the Big12, you get similar results. If you put a lot of stock in those rankings, you'd think the SEC would dominate. But they didn't. In fact, whether in the bowl games or the playoffs, the SEC was clearly the weakest performer of the P4 conferences.
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You got it straight!
 
#241      
DReq
ChiefGritty said:
The difference isn't in the level of subjectivity, it's in how apples-to-apples you're able to make comparisons.

I dunno, the older I get the less I struggle with the whole "rankings don't matter - or do they?" stuff. It gets easier and easier to hold contradictory notions in one's head.
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That's odd. The older I get the more difficulty I have holding one notion in my head for long. But that's off topic. Back to the ranking struggles. Go Illini.
 
#242      
bigcityillini
A G5 transfer does not move the needle because those nice G5 stats may not translate. But we're going to say Rusk gets a pass on his lackluster contribution at Illinois because of his FCS production? - I am not sure what your argument here is really. I am saying that the portal ranks on production, on paper he has that. If you want to argue that FCS production does not matter for D1 production, then we can have that argument and id agree with you overall.

Doiran Thomas and Brody Foley, you're talking about a single season of production. - you'd think you could do a little more research here and there. Doiran Thomas career stats are 56 catches, 560 yards, and 4 touchdowns. Those are Foleys career stats as well. They did not record a stat before last season. DO SOME RESEARCH BEFORE YOU HIT SEND!!!

For Rusk you're adding up two years, one of which was in the FCS - as i did with all the other players i listed as well. MY GOD.

And if you just look at this past, most recent season, every single guy you listed was more productive than Rusk, and most of them have two+ years of eligibility where Rusk only has one. - portal rankings do not account for eligibility. Never have and never will. He was comparable PRODUCTION wise which is what they look at. So is your argument that younger players should be ranked higher than older ones? lol

And what has already been told to you, using single data points is foolish. All 10 playoff teams this year had top 25 portal classes. EVERY SINGLE ONE. I get that you want this stance of yours to be correct. But it isn't. And it appears that no amount of data will be able to convince you. You have made up you mind and will die on this hill. No matter what data is presented to you lol. AND you are wasting our time because you cant even do simple research correctly
 
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