Illinois Football: Donovan Leary pledges commitment to the Illini

While the basketball team has taken up most of the headlines recently, the Illinois football program has quietly been doing some work in the recruiting game.

With the class of 2021 pretty much all buttoned up, the focus has turned toward the class of 2022. Illinois landed their first commitment for the 2022 class back on February 5 when guard Joey Okla committed to the program. The Illini will now have someone Okla can block for in the near future.

On Monday afternoon, Donovan Leary took to Twitter to announce that he has decided to commit to the Illinois football team. This is a big commitment and one that will pay big dividends down the road.

Leary is a 6-foot-2, 190-pound pro-style quarterback from Timber Creek High School and resides in Sicklerville, New Jersey. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 933 player in the class of 2022. He is also the No. 40 pro-style quarterback in the nation and the No. 25 player coming out of New Jersey.

Illinois now has two top 1000 players committed for 2022. Leary’s pledge now puts the Illini at No. 50 nationally in team recruiting ranking and No. 10 in the Big Ten.

What does Leary bring to the Illinois football program?

When watching Leary play the quarterback position, I see someone who can make all of the throws needed at the next level. He isn’t just someone who can throw the deep ball and has flash.

Leary’s short-to-intermediate passing game is pretty solid. He has nice touch on the ball in the short passing game and can really zip the ball into his receiver on out routes. I love how Leary steps into most passes as well. He doesn’t throw a lot off his back foot. There are fundamentals already established.

Another asset that jumps off the page is Leary’s ability to move enough to avoid pressure, but he can still keep his eyes down the field. He isn’t pulling the ball down and running at the first sign of adversity. This kid has some great features he will bring to the Illini.

I love this pick-up by the Orange and Blue. Bret Bielema has come in and really brought a lot of hope to the Illinois football program. Leary is going to have a shot as the future quarterback in Champaign.