Beason was a huge get for Illinois and now they are the favorite to land 5* Isaiah Williams. Hopefully they can make the LoL an actual rivalry now.
I’m perfectly fine continuing to curb stomp crappy Illini teams for eternity.
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Beason was a huge get for Illinois and now they are the favorite to land 5* Isaiah Williams. Hopefully they can make the LoL an actual rivalry now.
Beason was a huge get for Illinois and now they are the favorite to land 5* Isaiah Williams. Hopefully they can make the LoL an actual rivalry now.
Which one?I’ll bet money this kid never sets foot on Illinois campus as a signed commitment. Any takers?
Neither one.
I feel like they will be able to hold on to Beason, unless his two former HS teammates have a bad experience in Champaign. Last year was rock bottom for the Illini. I am not a believer in their athletic department (And their annoying fans are among the most over confident in the country), but I bet Lovie will get them to a bowl game within the next two years. They have solid fan support and a lot of money is coming into the program recently.I’ll bet money this kid never sets foot on Illinois campus as a signed commitment. Any takers?
I feel like they will be able to hold on to Beason, unless his two former HS teammates have a bad experience in Champaign. Last year was rock bottom for the Illini. I am not a believer in their athletic department (And their annoying fans are among the most over confident in the country), but I bet Lovie will get them to a bowl game within the next two years. They have solid fan support and a lot of money is coming into the program recently.
If you thinknlast year was bad, wait until you see this season. They will be worse. They have 1 scholarship qb on campus right now and on half his throws he has no idea where the ball is headed. The few upperclassmen they had with any talent transferred after last season. They will half a difficult time fielding a competitive team by the end of next season after the normal attrition kills the limited depth they are starting off with.
Neither of these kids will ever make it to Illinois. The kid from dallas will continue is to be recruited by the big programs in the SEC/Big 12 and will bail as soon as Illinois’ record goes south, if not sooner.
They will be challenged to win a conference game in 2018. They play at Rutgers. They do get Minny and Purdue at home, which might give them a shot.
They also start with home games vs Kent St. and Western IL. They likely will be 2-0 going into a game with USF at Soldier Field. Then I think the wheels come off.
Agreed. I would not take anything for granted with this team. They should be able to handle a bad MAC team. Western should have their dander up for this game.While I don’t know much about their returning roster or the like, WIU is a legitimate FCS team and Charlie Fisher is a solid coach. Their only losses last year were to top 10/15 FCS teams. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they gave the Fighting Lovies a pretty solid test.
Western won't sleep on UIUC......Western should have their dander up for this game.
Well, that’s two top 60 recruits already for Lovie. Just secured himself extra time to show it’s working.
What extra time? ADs shouldn’t evaluate coaches based on verbal commitments. Let’s see what everybody is saying after they see Illinois play this season. They have not hit bottom yet.
Expectations aren’t high. They’re a 3-4 win team probably at most again in 2018. But he’s putting together his classes. More along the lines of you have to give him a full roster of his players, and a year or two for them to play meaningful snaps. No chance he is fired before the end of 2019. That’s all I’m saying. Zero.
I am not saying he’ll be fired, I am saying that these verbal commitments will seriously revisit their decision when they see how bad Illinois continues to be. They are primed for their worst season yet in my opinion. Not only do I think they will struggle to win even 3 games next year, I think they will get blown out in the majority of their games. Their commitments will be barraged with an unbelievable amount of negative recruiting from some of the top programs in the country. Like I said, I seriously doubt either of those kids ever suits up for Illinois.
Why? They KNEW we had been bad when they committed. They were sold on being part of the group that brought Illini football back to being competitive.
Because they'll no doubt have all the blue bloods in their ear saying "come on... seriously? You want to go play for a team that just got blown out at home by Purdue after getting wiped by South Florida at Soldier Field?" (Both of which I expect to happen, by the way. This is going to be a TOUGH year for the Fighting Lovies.) The recruits may have been sold on being part of the group that brings back Illini football , but it will become very clear just how much work needs to be done as this year drags on.
I also think Williams is a tremendous athlete that would be extremely successful as an "offensive athlete" and returner, but have serious doubts about his ability to play QB in the B1G given his stature, playing style, and arm talent. Seldom do you see him making the throws he will have to make at the P5 level, as he's mostly chucking the ball up to wideouts who are simply bigger, stronger, and faster than the kids trying to cover them. He doesn't have to fit the ball into windows, drive the ball downfield over the middle, shape throws, or do many of the other things he will be expected to do regularly as a P5 QB:
Williams is absolutely an elite athlete, but I see a lot more "transferrable" QB skills for success at the P5 level here:
(And yes, I am a raging homer... but that doesn't make me wrong.)
Yes, they did. One of a few schools that told him they wanted him at QB.Are you certain they are recruiting Williams as a QB?
What does that tell you?Yes, they did. One of a few schools that told him they wanted him at QB.
Not saying they won't use him there if it shakes out that way. New OC is a West Virginia guy, coached Pat White. That is the comparison I have been hearing the most. Watch his film if you get the chance. Absolutely electric athlete. Reminds me of Randal-El.What does that tell you?
Guy would be a stud at WR, not so sure about him being the next Russell Wilson for the Illini.
Not saying they won't use him there if it shakes out that way. New OC is a West Virginia guy, coached Pat White. That is the comparison I have been hearing the most. Watch his film if you get the chance. Absolutely electric athlete. Reminds me of Randal-El.
Not saying they won't use him there if it shakes out that way. New OC is a West Virginia guy, coached Pat White. That is the comparison I have been hearing the most. Watch his film if you get the chance. Absolutely electric athlete. Reminds me of Randal-El.
Agree, superior athlete. Very elusive.
Going to cause a lot of problems with his legs. Just think he is better suited for WR for his own good. He is on the smaller side and his instincts are going to be to take off and run. He is going to take a boatload of hits at QB.
Fair enough, but elusive enough to avoid a lot of big hits. Comparable in size to Pat White, Denard Robinson, Randle-El, and they all survived.Won't be a good thing for him if he gets lined up by, say, a certain 6-4 245 Mike linebacker.
Yes, they did. One of a few schools that told him they wanted him at QB.
Fair enough, but elusive enough to avoid a lot of big hits. Comparable in size to Pat White, Denard Robinson, Randle-El, and they all survived.
Lovie is off to a blazing start for 2019. I like both these verbals better than anything he has brought in up to this point. I think everyone expected Lovie to bring in better talent at some point. I was not impressed at all with his first two classes. There is still a ton of work to do here. As several have mentioned, next year on the field could be very ugly. I believe lasts years freshmanB1G players were the result of having them all over the field, while the better programs had their freshman on the bench as reserves to upperclassman.
The next verbals they likely are to get from STL or the CPS don’t seem to be game changers to me. Talk of the Fighting Lovies winning the West in 2 years seems silly to me. Maybe this can be a rivalry with NU again, they should probably start with that expectation before they grab the Natty.
Not even a comparison. Hell, at NU, those two would be two of our all-time best recruits.
Feels a bit like the Mid-2000s class at Illinois with Benn and Wilson, just without the payments...the talent from that class alone led them to (without checking) probably one of their best four-year runs in football (all relative of course).
Fair enough, but elusive enough to avoid a lot of big hits. Comparable in size to Pat White, Denard Robinson, Randle-El, and they all survived.
Similar to Randle-El in size, not to the other two who were considerable bigger. Probably 2-3 inches and 20-30 lbs.
Not even a comparison. Hell, at NU, those two would be two of our all-time best recruits.
Feels a bit like the Mid-2000s class at Illinois with Benn and Wilson, just without the payments...the talent from that class alone led them to (without checking) probably one of their best four-year runs in football (all relative of course).
Well, Verdis Brown would have also been an "all-time best" recruit for NU if you believe the recruiting rankings. You probably know how I feel about that one.
I mean, we had clearly better four-year runs in the 1980s and obviously MUCH better 1960s and earlier (we owned the ‘20s!! LOL), but those players injected life into an absolutely dead program ... hoping Lovie’s boys can do the same.
Fair point - though like you, not referring to recruiting rankings, more tape. Athleticism is off the charts for both. Don't know who would be a better offensive skill position recruit from NU perspective in recent memory (talking tape, not actual results).