Illinois Football: Andrej Karic receives offer from Illini

The Illinois football team continued to offer scholarships to help build the offensive line.

On Wednesday, Andrej Karic announced on Twitter that he had received a scholarship offer from the University of Illinois. Offensive line coach Luke Butkus was his main recruiter. This was a big offer for the Illini. They need to continue hitting the Lone Star State hard.

Karic is a 6-foot-5, 240-pound offensive tackle from Southlake Carroll High School in Southlake, Texas. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 565 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 60 offensive tackle in the nation. He is also the No. 77 player in the state of Texas as well.

Illinois was by no means the first team to offer Karic. He has a lot of recruiting attention already. I believe the Illini were the ninth offer that Karic has received. Some of the other big programs include the likes of Oregon, Nebraska and Houston.

Lovie Smith and the Illinois coaching staff need to keep on top of the offensive lineman recruiting. Building in the trenches is what will help this program win in the future. Losing a player like Larry Boyd hurt this past week, so they will need to replace him with the next few classes.

There isn’t a lot of depth when it comes to offensive tackle for the Illini. I have Vederian Lowe and Richie Petitbon starting this year. Petitbon will be gone next season because he is a graduate transfer, so the Illini will need more help on the line. Lowe will also be a senior when the class of 2020 comes into Champaign too. The next two classes will need to bring some talented tackles.

Looking at what the Illini have on the offensive line and what they could have in the future, I think there is plenty of room for Karic to come into the program and start day one. If he is looking for early playing time, Illinois is the place to be.