Illinois Football: Ranking the last 10 Illini recruiting classes

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – NOVEMBER 11: Illinois free safety Stanley Green (7) gets ready to tackle Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Simmie Cobbs Jr. (1) in the second quarter during a Big Ten Conference football game between the Indiana Hoosiers and the University of Illinois Fighting Illini on November 11, 2017, at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

10. Class of 2016

The worst class of the last 10 years belongs to the class of 2016. This was an awkward group of players considering what was happening with the Illinois football program at the time. Illinois fired their head coach, Tim Beckman, a week before the 2015 season and replaced him with offensive coordinator, Bill Cubit. They then signed Cubit to a two-year deal. But, even with that two-year deal, the program was extremely unstable.

The class of 2016 finished with a total of zero four-star recruits and only eight three-star recruits. That is really bad when it comes to recruiting. That is below MAC level recruiting. Four of the eight three-star recruits aren’t even with the team anymore due to transferring or legal trouble.

So far, the highlights of this class are few and far between. I really like the possibility of Stanley Green blossoming into a tremendous player this year. He is going to get a lot of snaps at safety. Dele Harding is another player who will provide help for the Illini. He should be a key linebacker on the depth chart.

I also like a few others in this class who could help this year as well. Kenyon Jackson, Tymir Oliver, Doug Kramer and Jake Hansen all should be big-time contributors on this Illinois football team.

Yes, there are some good pieces in this class, but for the most part, this class set the program back a few years. There weren’t enough playmakers to improve this team enough to make a difference.

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