Illinois Football: A few reasons Maurice Massey should pick the Illini

There are only a few more days until the Illinois football team gets to hear if Maurice Massey picked the Orange and Blue or if he went to the other team from down south.

Massey is a 6-foot-4, 185-pound wide receiver from Kirkwood High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 540 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 66 wide receiver in the nation.

Back in late June, Massey cut his list down to just five programs and included North Carolina, Missouri, Ole Miss, Oregon and Illinois. Since then, he has visited both Illinois and Missouri multiple times and this past Sunday cut his list down to just those two programs. He will now be making a decision this Friday, August 3.

This is a tough choice for Massey. These are two rival programs who both could use another talented wide receiver who is big enough to go up and get the ball. Massey is the type of player who will make just about any quarterback look like an All-American.

I can’t speak for Missouri, but my case for Illinois as the right landing spot is simple. They have room on the roster and they have a talented quarterback coming in from the state of Missouri.

Let’s look at the roster. The only wide receiver who will be on the team in 2019 that is guaranteed to be ahead of Massey is Ricky Smalling. The other wide receivers either haven’t proved themselves – could be their fault or the quarterback situation last season – or they are inexperienced. When 2019 rolls around, though, Massey will have every opportunity to start for the Illini.

One of the issues over the last half-decade has been the lack of quarterback. That is all changing, hopefully, this season but for sure in 2019 when Isaiah Williams comes to town. He is coming in as one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation. This will guarantee Massey he will have a quarterback who can get him the ball so he can make plays.

These are the two big elements to why I think Massey would work well in Champaign. He would get early playing time and potentially could be a three or four-year starter. He also has a top-level quarterback throwing him the ball as well. This is why I think Illinois is the place to be for this talented pass catcher.