Illinois Football: Illini targeting speedster Chase Kennedy

The state of Texas is being tapped back into by the Illinois football team with one of their most recruit scholarship offers.

While Bret Bielema and the Illini coaches are primarily focused on in-state talent, they aren’t forgetting about the great players from other states. In an offer on Friday, the Illini started targeting an under-the-radar recruit in Chase Kennedy.

Kennedy is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound weakside defensive end from Episcopal School of Dallas, and he resides in Dallas, Texas. He isn’t rated or ranked by 247Sports just yet, but the scholarships are starting to come in from some solid programs.

In addition to the Illinois offer he received on Friday, Kennedy has also received an offer from Houston, Utah and Tulane. So, there are some solid DI programs eyeing this kid.

What would Kennedy bring to the Illinois football team?

There is a ton to love about Kennedy’s game. But the first thing I want to point out is that his size at 6-foot-3, 225-pounds, and his speed, screams linebacker. Also, the main recruiter for Kennedy is Illinois linebackers coach, Kevin Kane.

So, I would venture to say Illinois is recruiting Kennedy as a linebacker at the next level. Let’s get to what I love about what Kennedy brings to the table.

Speed.

Wow, this kid can fly off the line. His tremendous speed at the high school level is something that high school offensive tackles can’t handle. Kennedy can fly past the tackle and get to the ball carrier before the offense has a chance to run the play. It is quite impressive.

Illinois has lacked a lot of speed over the past decade. It would be nice to add more speed to the defensive front seven, and I think Kennedy would be able to do that for the Illini.

I believe Kennedy’s ability to read the ball carrier will help him at the next level as well. He would be able to drop back in coverage on zone reads and see where the quarterback is going with the ball. His speed would enable him to keep up with a tight end or a player in the slot as well.

The upside for Kennedy is tremendous. I love this offer by Illinois. If we can snag this kid from the Lone Star State, the Illini would be getting a great athlete who could help the team early on in his career.