Illinois Football: Caleb Taylor would help build out Illini class of 2020

The Illinois football team may have made up some ground on a solid defensive end this weekend.

Recruiting is a game that can go from hot to cold and from cold to hot really quickly. The latest team to either offer a kid or have a kid visit their program is going to jump up into the discussions about their chances of landing the talented recruit. The Illini might be in a similar position with Caleb Taylor.

Taylor is a 6-foot-4, 244-pound strong-side defensive end from Hazelwood Central High School in Florissant, Missouri. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 1566 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 81 strong-side defensive end in the nation. He is also the No. 38 player in the state of Missouri as well.

The recruiting attention has been solid for Taylor. He has some good MAC programs after him, but he also has teams like Kansas and Iowa State who are also pursuing this kid’s talents. In fact, Taylor has his first official visit coming up this weekend to Kansas. Most had the Jayhawks in the driver seat in this recruitment.

Illinois could be coming on strong, though. They have tight ends coach Cory Patterson, a St. Louis native, recruiting Taylor along with defensive line coach, Austin Clark, who is a magician when it comes to recruiting. These two guys have the ability to land some serious talent for the Orange and Blue.

There are some attributes that stand out to me about Taylor’s game. The kid is big. He stands at 6-foot-4, 244-pounds. That is the size I want coming out of high school to play defensive end. I like his vision as well. He is able to keep his head up when rushing the quarterback and this will be valuable especially on run-pass option plays.

Illinois offered another kid from the state of Missouri. I would love to keep snagging solid talent from this state. I think Taylor could be a solid recruit to build out this class of 2020. I would welcome him joining the program.