Illinois Football: Crystal Ball favoring the Illini for an east coast weapon

It looks like the Illinois football team is a heavy favorite for another offensive weapon in 2022.

Illinois has five commitments on the board right now, all of which are on the offensive side of the ball. Three of the commits are offensive linemen who will be protecting recent Elite 11 standout, quarterback Donovan Leary. Leary will then be passing the ball to in-state wide receiver, Hank Beatty.

All of these five commitments are building blocks for the future. They are the foundation who will help Illinois get back to a respectable level as a program. The Illini look to be potentially adding another stabilizer in tight end, Owen Anderson.

Anderson is a 6-foot-4, 235-pound tight end from The Hun School and resides in Skillman, New Jersey. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 71 tight end in the class of 2022. He is also the No. 26 player coming out of New Jersey.

Back on March 15, Illinois offered Anderson a scholarship. Since then, the relationship between the Illini and Anderson has clearly strengthened, as Illinois now holds five Crystal Ball predictions as the landing spot for the east coast tight end.

Three of the predictions are coming from 247Sports’ Michigan State “experts”, one is Jeremy Werner and the other is 247Sports’ national recruiting analyst Brian Dohn. This is a lot of smoke when it comes to recruiting, so I feel like Illinois is probably in the driver’s seat to land Anderson.

What would Owen Anderson bring to the Illinois football team?

There is a lot to love about Anderson’s game. First off, he seems to be a hybrid tight end and wide receiver. He has great speed on the outside and his size makes him a tough matchup anywhere on the field.

I really love Anderson’s route running as well. He goes hard into his stops and is able to make crisp cuts. This will help him create space at the next level.

It is exciting Illinois is in the mix for Anderson. It seems that Michigan State is the other school right there with the Illini, though. They have an official visit set up with Anderson for June 18, but Illinois hasn’t had one set up yet.

Anderson would be a great pick-up for the Orange and Blue. This Illini offensive is going to be a well-oiled machine under Bret Bielema and Tony Petersen.