Illinois Football: Crystal Ball Prediction has Illini bolstering offensive line

Illinois football continues to be busy on the recruiting trail heading into early National Signing Day.

Just last Thursday, a Crystal Ball Prediction was submitted in favor of the Illini for safety Tyson Rooks. He is a 6-foot-5 monster who would be dangerous in the middle of the Illinois secondary. But the Orange and Blue weren’t done with just Rooks.

On Monday, Jeremy Werner of 247Sports put in another Crystal Ball Prediction. This time it was for the offensive side of the ball. Werner has a six out of 10 confidence for Illinois to land offensive tackle, Isaiah Adams.

Adams is a  6-foot-6, 320-pound offensive tackle from Garden City Community College and is from Canada. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 21 JUCO player in the class of 2022. He is also the No. 5 JUCO offensive tackle.

Isaiah Adams would help solve the Illinois football offensive line problem.

I think it is fair to say Illinois has an offensive line problem on their hands entering the 2022 campaign. Blake Jeresaty, Alex Palczewsk, Doug Kramer, Jack Badovinac, and Vederian Lowe are all departing the program. That is, essentially, the entire starting offensive line from this past season.

Behind these five offensive linemen, there really isn’t much in the way of experience. This is what Bret Bielema was talking about in his press conference earlier this season.

Snagging a player like Adams would help patch up the offensive line. Adams has experience at a higher level than high school. He is also a wanted recruit out of the JUCO ranks.

Various programs are after Adams. He has roughly 17 scholarship offers, and all of them are from pretty big programs like West Virginia, Minnesota, Syracuse, and Arizona, among others.

It looks like Adam’s decision might be down to just three teams, though. He took an official visit to Kansas, UCF, and he just finished a trip to Champaign this past weekend.

Adams would be a big addition to the Illinois roster. We need offensive linemen who can step in and start from day one. That is what he would bring to the table.