Illinois Football: Illini targeting 2025 in-state athlete

Illinois football has started the season 1-0, and they are pushing forward with recruiting for the future at the same time.

Developing relationships with in-state recruits is something that has been missing with the Illini for quite some time. But when Bret Bielema took over in Champaign, he wanted to change the ugly trend.

Adding a player like Talyn Taylor would help win the state of Illinois for 2025. On Saturday, Taylor took to Twitter to announce that he had received a scholarship offer from the Orange and Blue.

Taylor is a 6-foot, 165-pound athlete from Geneva Community High School and resides in Geneva, Illinois. He isn’t rated or ranked just yet, but that is due to the fact he is from the class of 2025 and full rankings haven’t been released.

There is no doubt Taylor is going to be a good player in the coming years, though. Illinois isn’t his first scholarship offer. He currently has five offers on the table right now, and they are all from Big Ten programs. It will truly be a race to see who can land this future star.

Illinois football getting in early on a recruit like Talyn Taylor is a great move.

While Illinois has secured some nice players from the state of Illinois, there is no doubt that there is a lot of work left to do. The Illini are still losing top players to other programs, but that will change with winning on the football field.

But Bielema and his coaching staff have to get in early on the top recruits from future classes. This is the foundation for a potential commitment. I believe the only thing missing would be the winning element.

If we can show high-level recruits we can win on the football field, then we can start landing players like Taylor. His skillset would then take us from a solid program to one competing for Big Ten titles.

I love what Taylor brings to the table. Since he is so young, there is a ton of room to grow, but Taylor has the speed to compete at the college level. He is going to be dangerous with that speed wherever he lands. I also love his agility on the field. Taylor can make defenders miss.

This is a great offer by Illinois. Let’s get in early on Taylor’s recruitment and, hopefully, we can start securing the top in-state players more often in the future.