Illinois Football: Selah Brown could see early snaps in an Illini uniform

The Illinois football team finds themselves on a top list for one of the best players in the class of 2022.

Since Bret Bielema took over, the Illini have been recruiting pretty well. They have eight pledges right now and a national recruiting ranking of No. 26. That is a good start. Another good piece Bielema could add to the Illinois roster is Selah Brown.

Brown is a 6-foot-2, 270-pound athlete from Louisville Male High School and resides in Louisville, Kentucky. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 329 player in the class of 2022. He is also the No. 20 athlete in the nation and the No. 3 player coming out of Kentucky.

Illinois came on strong in the Brown recruitment a few months ago, but on Sunday, the talented defensive end decided to cut his list down to just 10 programs. Making his top 10 included the likes of Kentucky, Louisville, Northwestern, Boston College, Stanford, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Cincinnati, UCF and Illinois.

This is a great list to make for the Illini. If Illinois can land Brown, he would elevate the 2022 class from good to great. He would also be some proof that Bielema can recruit with the best of the best.

Where would Brown fit on the Illinois football roster?

Well, a lot has changed on the Illinois roster the past few weeks. There were so many players changing positions to the point the program is going to need more defensive end help in the near future.

Ezekiel Holmes, Seth Coleman, Isaiah Gay and Owen Carney Jr., all flipped to outside linebacker. They were all defensive ends this past season. The way things are shaping up, it looks like Bielema wants a bunch of defensive linemen who are between 270 and 300 pounds. That is right where Brown would be as a freshman.

I love some of the pieces that Illinois has for the future as well. Johnny Newton is going to be special, and he is only a redshirt freshman. I also love Keith Randolph out on the edge, and he is a redshirt freshman as well. These two should lead the line after this season, but there isn’t a ton of depth right now.

This is where Brown would come into play. I could see him coming in and being a primary backup from day one. Depending on what type of defense Illinois comes out with, Brown could see plenty of snaps as a freshman. By year two, there is a full-time starting job in line for him.

Illinois is squarely in the running for Brown. Snagging a four-star recruit in the first recruiting class would help validate what Bielema is doing in the recruiting game. Brown is becoming more important to the Illini by the day.