Illinois Football: Illini class of 2020 brings quality talent to the table

It looks like the Illinois football class of 2020 is about wrapped up, and some fans may look at this as a failed class.

I say the above statement based on what I have seen on social media. Some fans think this is a bad class. To further their feelings, Illinois lost their highest-rated recruit, Jadon Thompson, on Tuesday. He decided to flip to Cincinnati.

Is this class of 2020 a misstep in the tenure of head coach Lovie Smith? I believe the answer is no, so let’s look at what we have.

The current class of 2020 consists of two top 500 recruits in James Frenchie (402) and Reggie Love (423). The class of 2019 and 2018 both had three top 500 recruits. The class of 2017 had a total of five top 500 recruits.

Let’s look at top 1000 recruits. The class of 2020 consists of five top 1000 recruits. The class of 2019 and 2018 both had seven top 1000 recruits. The class of 2017 had nine top 1000 recruits.

So, each of the prior three classes has more top talent than the current class. Why is that? It is because Illinois couldn’t fill out a full class for 2020. We just didn’t have enough scholarships to offer players because our roster is full.

As of right now, I believe we have 86 players on scholarship and we are only allotted 85 scholarships per season. Of course, my number might be off a little bit, but the point is that Illinois doesn’t have scholarships to give players for 2020. That is why we have a class that only consists of 13 players and ranks No. 87 in the nation.

So that is the reason why the class is ranked so low, but how is the rating of this class looking?

Let’s take a look at the last five recruiting classes for Illinois. The class of 2016 had an average rating of .8126. The class of 2017 came in at .8371 and 2018 was a little better at .8381. The class of 2019 was the best out of the last half-decade checking in at .8622. And the class of 2020 is sitting at .8460.

When you look at the average rating of the class of 2020, this group of players is the second-highest rated class over the last five years. This class is about quality and not quantity. That is something I have been preaching since day one.

There might be some people freaking out right now about the class of 2020, but you should probably calm down. Everything is going to be fine. This class has valuable pieces. We signed as many players as we possibly could. The future is still extremely bright.