Illinois Football: Illini offer JUCO running back JD Martin

Not all players the Illinois football team is pursuing for next year are coming out of the high school ranks.

Snagging players from the junior college level isn’t a bad idea, especially for a program like the Illini who need impact players for 2020. Getting great athletes to come in and help this team is paramount. That is why we are now going after a player like JD Martin.

Martin is a 6-foot, 185-pound athlete from East Central Community College in Wetumpka, Alabama. He isn’t rated or ranked by the recruiting sites this year, but he was on the recruiting sites radar when he was originally coming out of high school.

When Martin was coming out of Wetumpka High School last year, he was rated as a three-star recruit who was the No. 937 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 67 athlete in the nation. He was also the No. 35 player in the state of Alabama.

Martin had originally signed with Florida Atlantic, but it looks like things didn’t work out with that agreement. He is now trying to find his way into DI football via the JUCO route and teams are eyeing this kid to help their program.

The profile for Martin says the class of 2021, but I am not sure if that is correct. With him being a JUCO player, he could come in next season and play immediately. I am not sure why it says 2021. But that is something I will need to look into.

Martin is currently in his freshman season with ECCC and is doing pretty well. He is lined up as a running back and has 53 carries for 363 yards and 2 touchdowns. That is a 6.8 yards per carry average, which is incredibly impressive. He has also managed 7 receptions for 46 yards this season.

Illinois needs more running back help because Reggie Corbin is gone after this season and there will be even more talent departing after the 2020 campaign. Martin might be a good option to replace the players we have in the backfield.