Illinois Football: Illini make top 12 for DE Joe Moore III

The Illinois football team had some more goods news come down the pipeline as a big-time target cut his list down.

What the Illini are doing on the defensive line is extremely impressive. They are building so much talent when it comes to the front four. Defensive line coach Austin Clark and tight ends coach Cory Patterson are wizards when it comes to recruiting these talented players. One of the next big targets is Joe Moore III.

Moore is a 6-foot-2.5, 239-pound strong-side defensive end from Cardinal Ritter College Prep in St. Louis, Missouri. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 408 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 20 strong-side defensive end in the nation. He is also the No. 6 player in the state of Missouri as well.

On Saturday, Moore gave good news to a few handfuls of programs. He decided to cut his list down to just 12 teams vying for his commitment. The 12 teams who made the cut include Wisconsin, West Virginia, Purdue, North Carolina, Oregon, Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Arizona State and Illinois.

I assumed Illinois would make this cut because they have a great relationship with Moore. He also seems to like the Illini program, which is a great thing. Back on April 6, Moore took an unofficial visit to Champaign to see what the Orange and Blue program was all about. During that visit is when he was offered a scholarship by the Illini.

Getting Moore would be huge for Illinois. They already have a great defensive line being built. Having someone like Moore come in and push for a starting spot day one would only make the team better. I think there is a chance him and Noah Arinze both pick the same program. These two would dominate the entire Big Ten.

Illinois making Moore’s top 12 is big for the team. We could always use more talent on defense. Hopefully, we can make the next cut and get an official visit from this talented defensive end.