Illinois Football: Illini trying to bulk up front seven with offer to Brian Allen

Illinois football continues their push to build out the class of 2022 with one of their recent offers to an in-state defensive lineman.

With nine players committed for 2022 – the most recent being Malachi Hood just days ago – the Illini are looking to add to the family. A potential route they could go to find one of their next commitments is defensive lineman, Brian Allen.

Allen is a 6-foot-3, 230-pound defensive lineman from St. Thomas More High School and resides in Woodstock, Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit, but 247Sports doesn’t have him ranked for the class of 2022.

Even with 247Sports not yet ranking Allen, he still has roughly 10 scholarship offers on the table right now. Some of the bigger names include the likes of Iowa State, Purdue and Illinois.

Illinois football could always use more depth on the defensive line.

I am intrigued by the offer to Allen. He is originally from the state of Illinois but transferred out to Connecticut to finish out his high school career back in February. Bringing him back home is something I believe Illinois could accomplish.

Allen brings a lot of fire off the edge of the defense. He can get to the ball carrier quickly, which is great if you are a defensive end. But I also see him being flexible with his position. Allen can play either defensive end or move to a linebacker role. That is how talented I think he could be at the next level.

Illinois had some movement from defensive line to linebacker this offseason. Bret Bielema has moved some pieces around to better form the defense. That is why having someone who has flexibility with their position would be great for the new regime.

I see Allen coming in and redshirting year one. He would start getting some snaps in 2023. By 2024 or 2025, there should be a starting role open up for the talented weapon. I love this offer by the Illini.