The Illinois Fighting Illini are not exactly a team that consistently comes to mind when we think about programs that consistently develop high-level NFL Draft prospects.
But this team was simply different this season, and is on an exciting trajectory moving forward in a new era of college football.
The team has four prospects selected in the 2024 NFL Draft and has four more players to keep an eye on in the 2025 NFL Draft between wide receiver Pat Bryant, cornerback Xavier Scott, offensive tackle J.C. Davis and wideout Zachary Franklin.
And the Illini are developing a multitude of players into NFL caliber players who were not big name, four and five-star recruits coming out of high school.
That is something Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry takes pride in.
“If anybody knows anything about Illinois football, we are the best in the country at not taking four and five-stars,” said Henry in an exclusive with Paul Banks of RG.org. “That’s easy. Taking four and five-star players are easy. I can do that with my eyes closed. But we take guys who are zero, one, two, three-star recruits, walk-ons, and we develop them at a really, really high clip.”
Illinois will indeed attract more highly touted recruits moving forward, though, after they finished out 2024 with 10 wins. That’s only the fifth time in program history in which they have accomplished that feat.
In the same season, they also achieved their first-ever victory over an SEC team and got their first bowl win in over a decade. It was the team’s first New Year’s Bowl victory specifically in nearly three and a half decades.
Recruits will also look to develop into a player of the capacity of the many NFL Draft selections head coach Bret Bielema has generated in his short time at the helm.
One of the biggest sells is the success of former Fighting Illini standout Devin Witherspoon, who now plays cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks. His success is a testament to the coaching staff with the program, who took him from an unranked recruit to a first-round draft selection.
“He plays with his hair on fire,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said to RG. “You talk about shocking effort, and if you want to shock people, watch 21 play. We talk about ball finding energy, and it kind of all comes together with Spoon.”
Could we see the next Witherspoon coming out of Illinois sooner rather than later? It would not be surprising with the optimistic path the school is on.
