Illinois Football: Illini have interest in OT Jarod DePriest

Building the trenches for the Illinois football team is one of the top priorities.

Without good offensive and defensive lines, the entire football team can crumble. Just take a look at what the three Illini quarterbacks had to deal with last season. There was such a struggle behind center and this led to a two-win season.

The class of 2018 is almost complete for the Illini and will be officially completed on February 7. These players will be added to the building blocks from 2017 as well. Now, the Illini also need to crank up their recruitment for the class of 2019 recruits.

In 2019, Illinois has a nice treasure trove of players who are in-state kids. They have really started to focus hard on these athletes and one is from a little town called Farmington, Illinois.

Jarod DePriest is a 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive tackle the Illini have interest in and while he hasn’t received a scholarship yet, they are courting him for a potential offer soon. He is currently listed as a three-star recruit who is the No. 786 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 26 player in the state of Illinois.

The Illini recently had him up on campus for an unofficial visit to watch the basketball team take on Michigan State.

“It was a great experience and very fun,” said DePriest, “It was my second time on campus; I went to another basketball game several years back.”

Something tells me this won’t be DePriest’s last time on the Illinois campus, though. With his frame and ability, I assume he will continue to grow in popularity among the recruiting experts and more teams – including Illinois – will extend a scholarship offer.

At Farmington, DePriest has honed his craft by playing both sides of the ball. He is a dominant defensive tackle but can also switch over the offensive line and help protect his quarterback. Illinois is looking at potentially making him full-time on the offensive side of the ball.

“I played left tackle and moved around the defensive line wherever they needed me,” said DePriest, “I believe that Illinois would want me for the offensive line, though.”

It is still pretty early in the recruitment process for DePriest, but his goal is like many others. He wants to see the interest from programs across the country. He already has contact from teams like South Dakota State, who was his first scholarship offer, Austin Peay, Central Michigan and Iowa. He also plans to take a trip up to South Dakota State to see what the Jackrabbits have to offer him on campus.

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Illinois has a nice young offensive line right now that only continues to get better. If DePriest gets an offer from the Illini and he accepts, I would expect him to redshirt year one and then be an impact backup as a redshirt freshman. He would then continue to work his way up the depth chart. This kid has a bright future, and I hope we can see him in Orange and Blue.