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Illinois Football: 5 Illini players who benefit the most from a fall season

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL. - NOVEMBER 30: The Fighting Illini take the field before a Big Ten Conference college football game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the IIllinois Fighting Illini on November 30, 2019, at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL. Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL. - NOVEMBER 30: The Fighting Illini take the field before a Big Ten Conference college football game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the IIllinois Fighting Illini on November 30, 2019, at Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL. Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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COLLEGE PARK, MD – OCTOBER 27: An Illinois Fighting Illini football helmet during a college football game against the Maryland Terrapins at Capitol One Field at Maryland Stadium on October 27, 2018 at College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

2. Marquez Beason

It is not every day you get a player like Marquez Beason walking through the door. A wanted man by man, Beason decided to pick Illinois as his landing spot, but things haven’t started off well for the great athlete.

Beason was a phenom coming out of Duncanville High School. Standing at 5-foot-11 and weighing 177-pounds, the talented playmaker had roughly 47 scholarship offers and they were all from big-time programs. The Illini were the eventual landing spot for Beason, though.

What was expected in year one for Beason? With his 4.46-second forty-yard dash speed and a 35.50-inch vertical, most Illinois fans were thinking he was coming in and going to start at cornerback as a freshman. That might have been the case if it wasn’t for injuries.

Before the 2019 campaign started, Beason went down with a bad knee injury that put him out for his entire freshman season. While he took a redshirt, the development of Beason’s game was hindered a little bit.

If Illinois wouldn’t have played until the spring, I believe the development of Beason would have been hindered even more. That would have been a ton of time away from the game. Beason also gets the chance to show the world how talented he really is. He didn’t get that chance as a freshman and it wasn’t looking like he was going to get it in 2020 either.

Illinois gets to play this fall, and that is big news for Beason. The kid has superstar written all over him. He finally has the stage set to put the Big Ten and the world on notice. Beason is for real.

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