Illinois Football: Former Illini Shine in East-West Shrine Game
The Illinois football team had some representation in this year’s East-West Shrine Game.
Quarterback Wes Lunt and linebacker Hardy Nickerson Jr. both received invites to this prestigious event.
Getting players into some type of NFL scouting events is always a good thing for the player and the program they came from. This is extra exposure for both parties.
The player gets a chance to be noticed if they have dealt with injuries and turmoil throughout his career, such as Lunt. He hasn’t really had a chance to shine in a stable environment.
Throughout Lunt’s career, he has transferred, sat out a season, had three different head coaches, and has been injured multiple times. This really hurt his draft stock and the potential for an NFL future.
Illinois Fighting Illini
This game is also great for Nickerson as well. He is slightly undersized for his position and he gets another chance to show NFL scouts that his size doesn’t matter.
Nickerson had a great career with California before becoming a graduate transfer and finishing up with the Illini. He brought his talent to Champaign and wowed fans here as well.
Both players received that chance to shine at the Shrine Game and that is exactly what they did.
The game wasn’t an offensive onslaught by any means. The West team beat the East 10-3 and there were zero touchdowns thrown in this game.
But, despite the lack of touchdowns, Lunt led both teams in passing with 101 yards. He also finished with a 96.7 passer rating, which was higher than any other quarterback as well.
The thing I am most intrigued by is Lunt’s yards per attempt in this game. The last two seasons he averaged just over 5.0 YPA, but in this game, he was at 7.2 YPA.
Having Lunt open up his game and show NFL scouts that he can throw it downfield is huge for his draft stock. Hopefully, he showed enough to get a look in the late rounds.
Nickerson had a good game as well. He finished the day with 4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 pass deflection. This stat line is exactly what he needed to have in this game.
Illinois fans had the privilege to see Nickerson do this game in and game out. Now the NFL scouts had a chance to see how fierce of a competitor this kid is.
I can’t wait to see where Nickerson goes in the draft. I don’t have a doubt he will get drafted, but it all depends on how high.
Next: Spring Practice Wide Receiver Depth Chart Breakdown
The two Illini players that participated in the East-West Shrine game showed why the NFL scouts should be looking at them harder. These two players have skills and I hope to be watching them on Sunday’s in the future.