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Illinois Football: Illini Add No. 20 with Alex Palczewski Commitment

By Rees Woodcock

Nov 28, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; The Illinois Fighting Illini seniors salute the crowd prior to a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Soldier Field. Northwestern won 24-14. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 28, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; The Illinois Fighting Illini seniors salute the crowd prior to a game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Soldier Field. Northwestern won 24-14. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports /
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As National Signing Day creeps closer, the Illinois football team continues to pick up recruits for the class of 2017.

The latest recruit to commit to Lovie Smith and his coaching staff is Alex Palczewski.

Palczewski is a three-star offensive lineman from Mount Prospect, Illinois.  He is 6-foot-6, 270-pounds, and his size is one of the reasons why he is the No. 45 overall offensive tackle in the class of 2017.

Last night, Palczewski took to Twitter to tweet out the great news that he is committing to the Illini.  This was huge not only for him but also for the program as well.

Palczewski now makes the No. 20 commit for the class of 2017.  He is the latest recruit to pledge to the Illinois football program, but likely not the last.

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One of the weak points for the Illini last season was the offensive line and Lovie has addressed that with the current recruiting class.

Palczewski is now the fourth offensive lineman to commit to Illinois for 2017.  The other three are Larry Boyd, Vederian Lowe, and Howard Watkins.

These four recruits will make for one great offensive line in the near future.

For the 2017 season, Illinois is looking at starting Christian DiLauro and Gabe Megginson at tackle, Darta Lee and Jordan Fagan at guard, and Nick Allegretti at center.

DiLauro, Megginson, and Allegretti all played some serious snaps last season and the rest saw sporadic action.

Watkins enrolled early at Illinois so he might have a chance at starting in the first game of the season.  He will get a full spring practice in and that is a huge advantage.

But, the other three offensive linemen coming in will have to impress in August.  There will be snaps available and I think we could see some young talent shine this season.

This was a great pickup for the Illini and the future of the program.  Illinois has a few good quarterbacks coming in and we want to protect them.

Next: Former Illini Shine in East-West Shrine Game

Building the front lines is how teams sustain winning and I believe that We Will Win.

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