Illinois Football: Illini offer 2021 running back Taj Butts

I might be a little late typing this, but the Illinois football team isn’t late on offering the next player they have their eye on.

Back on January 17, the Illini extended a scholarship offer to, potentially, their running back of the future. Taj Butts announced on Twitter that he had received an offer from The University of Illinois. I love how he capitalized “the” because we are the state university.

Butts is a 5-foot-11, 180-pound running back from DeSmet High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He isn’t ranked or rated yet because he is from the class of 2021, but the offers are already starting to come in for this talented running back. Since he does have a few offers already, I would put him somewhere between 300-600 for the class of 2021.

Like previously mentioned, Butts has two other offers besides for the Illini. Purdue was the first to offer the young speedster and Iowa State came in a short time later. These three teams are in early on this kid because of what he brings to the table.

Illinois has an offense that favors the running back. Rod Smith brought a great playbook with him. Reggie Corbin thrived in the first year under Smith. He was able to run the ball well and even caught some passes out of the backfield. That is what I see with Butts.

Butts has a similar style to Corbin. He is a running back who can take a handoff and look like he has nowhere to go, but that is when he squeaks through a small space and turns the burners on for a touchdown. Both are able to go from slow, methodical, running to breakaway speed in an instant.

I also like the ability of Butts to catch the ball out of the backfield. His dual-threat capabilities would be perfect in a Rod Smith offense.

The Illini are in early on Butts and that is huge for the program. They need to create a solid relationship with this kid because he would be a big piece to add for the future.