Illinois Football: Illini offer 2020 OT Connor McLaughlin

The Illinois football team was able to offer another big-time player for the future on Sunday.

Connor McLaughlin took to Twitter to announce that he had received a scholarship offer from the University of Illinois. This was a big offer for the Illini because of need and talent.

McLaughlin is a 6-foot-6, 245-pound offensive tackle from Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida. He isn’t rated or ranked by 247Sports yet, but he seems to be garnering some recruiting attention, so I assume he will be a decently ranked player.

Illinois was the first program to come in with an offer to McLaughlin. It looks like Duke, Northwestern and UCF are potentially giving him some love as well, according to 247Sports. I also believe McLaughlin is another kid who has potential on the football field, and Lovie Smith loves bringing those players in and developing them into solid Big Ten athletes.

McLaughlin seems to be a pretty athletic big man who can move well on the field. He is almost built like a tight end. Coming into the Illinois football program, I see him potentially moving over to the guard role on this team. We need quicker linemen to play guard, and I think McLaughlin fits that bill. He would be a great addition to the Illinois offensive line.

The offensive line is a big need for the Illini too. We are losing Richie Petitbon after this season, and we will lose Vederian Lowe, Kurt Gavin, Jake Cerny, Doug Kramer and Alex Palczewski after the 2020 season. That means six out of the 11 offensive linemen we have on the roster right now will depart in the next two seasons.

Illinois does have two offensive linemen coming in from the class of 2019 in Evan Kirts and Josh Plohr. Both will be important additions to this program. But, we need more offensive line help. I like this offer by the Illini because McLaughlin would help build depth.