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Illinois Football: Potential Illini wide receiver depth chart in 2019

By Rees Woodcock

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 04: An Illinois football helmet sits on the field before the start of the Big Ten Conference game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Purdue Boilermakers on November 4, 2017, at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - NOVEMBER 04: An Illinois football helmet sits on the field before the start of the Big Ten Conference game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Purdue Boilermakers on November 4, 2017, at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – OCTOBER 28: Members of the Illinois Fighting Illini marching band perform before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on October 28, 2017 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL – OCTOBER 28: Members of the Illinois Fighting Illini marching band perform before the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on October 28, 2017 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The best player to come out of the class of 2017 was wide receiver Ricky Smalling. He proved that his status as one of the most talented players in the state was correct.

Smalling was a 6-foot-0.5, 195-pound wide receiver coming out of Brother Rice High School in Oak Lawn, Illinois. He was rated as a three-star recruit who was the No. 358 player in the class of 2017 and the No. 53 wide receiver in the nation.

I feel bad for Smalling, though. His first year with the program had so many issues at the quarterback position. This really hurt his production. He had to deal with three different quarterbacks, one of which retired, one transferred and the other one didn’t throw a touchdown pass. That is what he had to deal with.

Even with the odds stacked against him, Smalling emerged with 31 catches for 510 yards and two touchdowns. He had a really good freshman campaign, and I would imagine it would have been even better if he had someone throwing him the ball. That will happen in 2018 and definitely in 2019 with Isaiah Williams coming in.

Smalling will be right there as one of the starters in 2019. He will be a junior for this program and one of the best wide receivers in program history.

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