Illinois Football: Cal Swanson receives first power five offer from Illini

The Illinois football team is looking at numerous options for the class of 2023.

As of right now, the Illini have four players committed for the 2023 class, and all of them are ranked inside the top 1000 nationally. The latest pledge for Illinois came in the form of offensive tackle, Zach Aamland.

Illinois now has two offensive linemen committed for 2023, but we need to find more depth for the position those linemen will be protecting. One possible option for the Illini at quarterback in 2023 is Cal Swanson.

Swanson is a 6-foot-2, 181-pound quarterback from Ardmore High School and resides in Ardmore, Oklahoma. He isn’t rated or ranked by 247Sports, but the talented passer now has a power five offer on the board. That is a good start to more scholarship offers to come.

Cal Swanson has the arm talent to be a great option for the Illinois football team.

Even though Illinois just offered Swanson on Monday, he has already set up an official visit to Champaign this upcoming weekend. This is when 10 other recruits will also be visiting the campus.

I know that Swanson’s offers and ranking, or lack thereof, don’t jump off the page. But when I watch this kid fling the ball around the field, I believe he has a chance of being a solid quarterback at the college level.

I already love his size at 6-foot-2, 181-pounds. That is a good frame for a quarterback. This kid has a cannon for an arm too. He doesn’t have to step into a pocket to get leverage on the ball. Swanson is able to move the ball downfield with ease.

The ability to move around is something that piques my interest as well. I love Swanson’s ability to move around in the pocket to create time and space, but he doesn’t drop his eyes while doing this. He keeps his head up and eyes downfield. This is a great attribute to already have at the high school level.

I am not completely sure why Swanson doesn’t have other power five scholarship offers. What I see is a complete gamer who just needs a chance. Illinois just might be that opportunity for him to shine.