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Illinois Football: Three dismissals will affect team for years

By Rees Woodcock

Dec 3, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; A view of the Big Ten logo on an end zone pylon prior to the game of the Penn State Nittany Lions against the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Championship college football game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; A view of the Big Ten logo on an end zone pylon prior to the game of the Penn State Nittany Lions against the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Championship college football game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Illinois football team dismissed three players yesterday after they were charged with robbery and burglary.

Darta Lee, Zarrian Holcombe and Howard Watkins no longer play for the Illinois football team and this is sad on a life level. They made a dumb decision that has serious ramifications and now they have to live with the consequences. Hopefully, they learn from their bad decisions and correct their path.

On a football level, their bad decisions also hurt the coaching staff, their former teammates and everyone involved with the program. The team is now three players short of what they would have had entering the 2017 season.

Darta Lee was going to have a bright future with the Illinois football team. He came into the program as a true freshman and played immediately. He had a chance to play in six games last season and even started two of those contests.

Entering the 2017 season, Lee was likely going to be a backup guard for the Illini. They needed him because he added depth to an offensive line that was already extremely thin. He also would have likely received a start or two this season as well.

Zarrian Holcombe was projected as the backup tight end on the team for 2017. He was an important piece to Illinois on special teams last year. He ended up playing in seven games and this season was going to be looked upon to do more for the offense.

The Illinois tight end situation is by no means set, so Holcombe would have had an opportunity to steal the starting job from Griffin Palmer heading into 2017. That won’t be happening now.

Howard Watkins was coming in as a true freshman this season. He came into the program early so he could learn the playbook and really develop as a great offensive lineman. He was likely to be redshirted year one but the future was undoubtedly bright for this young recruit.

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So, on a life level, which is most important, the dumb decision by these three young men will haunt them. They will hopefully learn from their decisions and get their lives together. On a football level, this decision will affect the team for the next few years as they try to find depth to replace all three.

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