Illinois Football: Illini make top five for in-state DT Denver Warren
While all the focus for the Illinois football team seems to be on 2019, they started to make some moves for the class of 2020 on Sunday afternoon.
Illinois received some great news when Denver Warren cut down his list. He ended up having just five teams on his top list and included Cincinnati, Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State and Illinois. This is a big list to make for the Illini because Warren is one of the best for 2020.
First off I’d like to thank God my mom and my family for being here for me through everything.... it’s been a wild ride.... TOP 5🤘🏽#TrustTheProcess @UMichFootball〽️ @PennStateFball 🔵⚪️@IlliniFootball🔶🔷 @GoBEARCATS🐾 @GopherFootball🐻 (no specific order) much love🏁 pic.twitter.com/3kijmmUda4
— Denver “Humble Beast” Warren (@drippy_D1) June 24, 2018
Warren is a 6-foot-2, 318-pound defensive tackle from West Aurora High School in Aurora, Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 286 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 23 defensive tackle in the nation.
Honestly, Warren has so many scholarship offers already, I wasn’t sure who was going to be in his top five. It is great the Illini made this list, though. They need to start winning over the top recruits in the state of Illinois and getting someone like Warren, who is the No. 5 player in the state, is a big step forward for the program.
Obviously, there are some big boys to slay if the Illini want to win over Warren. Penn State and Michigan are both dangerous teams in his recruitment. 247Sports has Michigan as the 85-percent favorite to land him. But, they also have Michigan State at 15-percent and they aren’t even in the running for his commitment. So, you never know who is going to win out here.
I think Warren would be a great addition to the Illinois football team. He would come into the program in 2020, and the projected starters at defensive tackle would be Calvin Avery and Verdis Brown. They would both be juniors when that season rolls around.
Warren would come in and compete for the starting job. I doubt he would win it, but he would be the main backup if he decides to play for the Orange and Blue. He would probably be in a timeshare where he would get as many snaps as the starters, though.
Next: 3 Illini recruiting headlines this week
Getting someone like Warren wouldn’t just build depth, but he would help build quality depth. The coaching staff is doing great taking the rebuild one step at a time. The addition of Warren would be a homerun for this program.