Illinois Football: Next 5 recruits the Illini need to land for 2021

CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 02: The Illinois Fighting Illini helmet on the field in the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Memorial Stadium on November 02, 2019 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 02: The Illinois Fighting Illini helmet on the field in the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Memorial Stadium on November 02, 2019 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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EVANSTON, IL – NOVEMBER 24: A general stock view of an Illinois Fighting Illini helmet during a game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Northwestern Wildcats on November 24, 2018, at Ryan Field in Evanston, IL. (Photo by Patrick Gorski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

2. Zeiqui Lawton

There are always recruitments that no one really knows what is going on exactly. The recruit is quiet, so there isn’t much information being leaked. Zeiqui Lawton has one of those recruitments right now.

Lawton is a 6-foot-3, 240-pound strong-side defensive end from South Charleston High School and resides in Charleston, West Virginia. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 522 player in the class of 2021 and the No. 35 strong-side defensive end in the nation. He is also the No. 2 player in the state of West Virginia.

Back in May, Lawton did cut his top list down to just five teams and kept Oregon, Boise State, Cincinnati, West Virginia and Illinois in the mix. I am not completely sure if this is the top list he currently has, though.

As I said earlier, there isn’t a ton of information on Lawton’s recruitment. He does retweet a few things, though, and it seems to be about West Virginia and Illinois. So, that might be a sign that the Illini are still in the running to land the talented defensive end.

This is a recruitment that I think the Illini could win considering how well they have been able to bring in defensive linemen. The Illinois coaching staff can recruit well for this grouping. It wouldn’t shock me to see the Illini land Lawton here in the coming months.