Illinois Football: Recruiting breakdown of new Illini target Popeye Williams

Illinois football has been on an offer spree lately, and one of the most recent offers was extended to Popeye Williams.

The previous Illini coaching regime was good about recruiting the defensive line, so continuing to bring in talented pass rushers is something I want to see. That is why I am extremely intrigued by Williams.

Recruiting profile

Williams is a 6-foot-3, 230-pound weakside defensive end from Westfield High School and resides in Westfield, Indiana. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 435 player in the class of 2022 and the No. 25 weakside defensive end in the nation. He is also the No. 10 player in the state of Indiana.

Talent

Already at the high school level, Williams has great size. Being 6-foot-3, 230-pounds enables him to push around offensive linemen in the Hoosier State. But there is so much more he brings to the table.

This kid has great speed off the edge. He is able to get around the offensive tackle because of his quickness. I also love Williams’ ability to get low on rushes. When you can get low and under the offensive tackle, they have a harder time being able to block the rush. I believe he is a college defensive end right now playing at the high school level.

Options

The recruiting options are plentiful for Williams. There is still about nine months until the early National Signing Day for his class, so I am sure the recruiting interest will continue to rise.

As of right now, Williams has roughly 19 scholarship offers, most of which are from big-time power-five programs. 247Sports has Williams with a top three of Louisville, Michigan State and Penn State, but he has yet to post any official top list on his social media.

Opinion

Can Illinois get involved in Williams’ recruitment? Yes, but I think there is probably too much ground to make up here.

Williams has been on virtual visits already. Michigan State seems like they are in the lead for him right now based on an article from February 9 where Williams says the Spartans are one of the top teams. They had a virtual visit with him that week as well.

There are a ton of teams the Illini will have to go through to get to Williams. It looks like he might want to stay in the Midwest, though. That is something Illinois has going for them.

Overall, Illinois probably has too many big players to go through to really make an impact here. I hope that I am wrong, though. Williams is a great talent who should be ranked inside the top 200 nationally.