Illinois Football: Illini favored to land 2022 tight end

The Illinois football team is projected to land another player for the class of 2022.

Earlier this week, the Illini had two Crystal Ball Predictions submitted for defensive back Xavier Scott and defensive lineman Noah Matthews. Both players would be solid additions to this Illinois squad.

But the Orange and Blue weren’t done with just those two recruits. On Thursday, another Crystal Ball Prediction was submitted by Jeremy Werner of 247Sports. With a confidence of eight out of 10, Werner has Illinois landing tight end, Naivyan Cargill.

Cargill is a 6-foot-6, 215-pound tight end from Palm Beach Gardens High School and resides in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He isn’t rated or ranked by 247Sports, but the physical framework is there for this kid to be a solid player in the future.

Illinois football is going heavy tight end in the Bret Bielema era.

I am surprised Illinois is Cargill’s lone scholarship offer. Purely based on his size, I want this kid on the Illinois roster. He is a raw player who plays at 6-foot-6. The Illini coaching staff can help mold and develop Cargill into a starting-caliber pass catcher.

Illinois has been trying to build out the tight end unit in the Bret Bielema era as well. While it does hurt that Daniel Barker entered the transfer portal, Illinois still has quite a few tight ends on the roster.

Luke Ford is going to lead the way in 2022. He returns for another year with the Illini. With Barker departing, everyone is looking at Ford for leadership at the position.

Illinois has a handful of other tight ends already on the roster. Bielema was also able to land two tight ends in Owen Anderson and Henry Boyer. These two tight ends have already signed with the Illini.

And now the Illini are projected to land another tight end in Cargill. I love what Bielema is doing with the position. I always wanted the Illinois offense to use tight ends more, and finally, we have a head coach who will do that. Let’s land Cargill and continue building the tight end position.