Illinois Football: Illini shifting to new era with transfers

The Illinois football team had some bad news last night regarding a few of their players.

Illinois linebacker Tre Watson, offensive lineman Gabe Megginson and punter Bryce Baringer all decided to pursue their college football careers with other programs. All three players decided to transfer out of the Illinois football program.

This is sad for the program and the Illini fans. These players were good individuals on and off the field. That is whys this is sad. I hate to see good people leave the program. They gave their heart and souls to this football program only to be let down and feel the need to transfer. This makes me sad.

I wish nothing but the best for these three players – and whoever else transfers – in the future. Do what is best for you. You own nothing to anyone except yourselves. Be happy, thrive wherever you go and enjoy the process. You only get one life to live on this Earth, so live it up.

Now let’s look at these losses from a fan perspective. The team struggled this year with them on the roster. They weren’t necessarily a part of the problem but the team as a whole couldn’t get it done. The biggest loss is Watson.

Watson started seven games this season for the Illini and played in a total of nine. He was one of the best Illinois linebackers but Lovie Smith and the Illinois coaching staff clearly has a plan in place to get the younger guys more starts and playing time. This hurt Watson’s production in 2017 and would hurt it even more in 2018. Despite his talent, I couldn’t predict how many games he would have started next season.

Illinois still has a few nice linebackers who will fill in for Watson. I like Jake Hansen when he finally gets healthy. Christian Abercrombie was extremely underrated this season and did a lot of impressive things in my eyes. Dele Harding, Del’Shawn Phillips and Julian Jones will all be familiar names in 2018 as well. Don’t sleep on James Knight either. He has potential coming from East St. Louis.

Megginson was another loss for this Illini team. His was more of a playing time issue, though. Megginson came into the Illinois football program with great promise. He was the highest rated recruit Tim Beckman ever landed. But, he struggled immensely on the football field. I can’t put all the blame on him, though.

There have been three coaches in the last three years for the Illini and this had to have thrown a lot of these players off. It is hard to adjust to that many different voices in your ear during a career. But, nonetheless, Megginson did struggle on the field and this – along with the freshman movement – is why he didn’t play much in 2017. He only had one start at tackle and one start at guard.

Losing Megginson probably won’t hurt too much. The coaching staff already moved away from him during the 2017 campaign and the freshmen – soon to be sophomores – will be on the line once again in 2018. Megginson’s transfer is understandable, and now both parties can move on.

Bryce Baringer was the other transfer for the Illini. This one was understandable because Blake Hayes took the reins, and he will likely be the starter for the next three years.

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Illinois lost three players on Monday to transfer. These guys will be missed but the team will move on. I wish them nothing but the best in the future.