Illinois Football: 7 recruits who have Illini on top list

4. Dallas Craddieth Top 12

On the defensive side of the ball, things seem to be pretty quiet for the Illinois football team. They don’t have a ton of recruiting momentum on that side of the ball but there are a few good ones they are pursuing.

Dallas Craddieth is a talented player who the Illini will hopefully land. He has his top list down to 12 programs he will be choosing from. Those 12 teams are Michigan State, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa State, Iowa, Minnesota, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Kentucky, Purdue and Illinois. These are the usual suspects for the Illini to have to go up against in the recruiting game.

Getting Craddieth will be a challenge. He is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound safety from Hazelwood Central High School in Florissant, Missouri. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 496 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 10 player in the state of Missouri.

One of the few positions Illinois looks really good in this upcoming season is safety. Stanley Green and Patrick Nelson both impressed me last season with their abilities as freshmen. They are now sophomores and should be starting once again. Look for both of these guys to be impact players this year.

Craddieth could be in a good situation if he picks the Illini, though. He would come from the class of 2018 and Green and Nelson would be juniors. If Craddieth redshirts year one, that would make him eligible to play as a redshirt freshman in 2019 and would only have to wait one full year to take over the starting role. He would be starting as a redshirt sophomore. That isn’t a bad game plan. Illinois would benefit greatly in the future if they could land this kid.