Illinois Football: Illini receive commitment from Joriell Washington

The Illinois football team landed their second commitment of the day on Friday evening.

Earlier in the day, the Illini were able to pull in Theodore Lockley, a talented athlete from Daytona Beach, Florida. But the Orange and Blue were not finished. Lovie Smith and the Illinois coaching staff also added safety, Joriell Washington.

Washington is a 6-foot-2, 178-pound safety from Fort Myers High School and resides in Fort Myers, Florida. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 1255 player in the class of 2021 and the No. 99 safety in the nation. He is also the No. 167 player in the state of Florida.

This announcement came as a surprise to many as Lockley was the only player to have a commitment scheduled. But Washington rolled in and announced his pledge to the Illini. This wasn’t an easy recruitment to win, though.

Washington had a wide range of scholarship offers. In addition to the Illini, he also had offers from teams like Boston College, Oregon and Iowa State. Illinois’ connection to the Sunshine State via Keynodo Hudson helped land this talented defensive back.

How will Washington fit in with the Illinois roster?

As far as the depth chart is concerned, this was a huge commitment for the Illinois football program. Entering the 2021 campaign, I believe the Illini will be solid at safety. Incoming transfer TreSean Smith should provide a lot of help. I also like Sydney Brown, Delano Ware and James Knight. But all four of those players will be seniors. We are going to need depth moving forward.

Snagging a player like Washington will pay dividends when it comes to depth. I see him coming in as a freshman and, probably, redshirting. He would then enter the 2022 campaign as a redshirt freshman and could start right away.

I love what Illinois has done with the depth at defensive back, especially safety. In addition to Washington coming in, the Illini were able to secure a commitment from Daniel Edwards and Prince Green, both of whom will be in the secondary.

This program is building into something special. We are starting to get some quality depth from the class of 2021. Something tells me that we aren’t done adding this weekend either.