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Illinois Football: Early look at the Illini defense for 2019

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini walks off the field and is met by athletic director Josh Whitman after losing to the Iowa Hawkeyes 63-0 at Memorial Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini walks off the field and is met by athletic director Josh Whitman after losing to the Iowa Hawkeyes 63-0 at Memorial Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – NOVEMBER 17: An Illinois football Helmut as seen during a Big Ten Conference football game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Illinois Fighting Illini on November 17, 2018, at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL – NOVEMBER 17: An Illinois football Helmut as seen during a Big Ten Conference football game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Illinois Fighting Illini on November 17, 2018, at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Cornerback

2018 Starter: Tony Adams (3-star #912)

2019 Starter: Marquez Beason (4-star #84)

The 2018 season was crazy for the Illinois football team due to lack of talent, lack of depth and injuries. Tony Adams was moved around all over the secondary to fill in holes for the Illini. He is mainly a cornerback but ended up actually making six starts at safety last season.

While normally Adams would move back to cornerback for the Illini, we now have some more depth coming into the program. I have incoming freshman Marquez Beason taking over the starting cornerback duties.

Beason is entering the Illinois football program as one of the best recruits in the history of the Orange and Blue. He is a four-star recruit who is the No. 84 player in the class of 2019. I see Beason coming in and starting at cornerback from day one. This kid has abilities we have rarely seen at Illinois.

Behind Beason, I have Quan Martin slotted. Martin played right away for the Illini in 2018, but he probably wasn’t ready to make that big of a contribution yet. But, he was thrown into the fire and did a solid job all things considered.

Martin ended up starting in eight games at cornerback and played in a total of 10 games. He had a total of 42 tackles and three interceptions for the Illini. Look for him to get some snaps in 2019 but be a primary backup to Beason.

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