Illinois Football: Illini continue to elevate defensive backs

I think it is fair to say, when you think of the Illinois football defense, you tend to think about the front seven.

Historically, the Illini have put quite a few players from their front seven into the NFL. Players like Dick Butkus, Kevin Hardy, Simeon Rice, and Whitney Mercilus come to mind, among others. The meat of the Illinois defense over the years has been from the front seven.

But could the tides be turning on the front seven reputation for the Illinois football program? Is this defense becoming a unit that puts more defensive backs into the NFL than any other position? I think it is possible we could end up being known as a defensive back factory soon.

Illinois football is building their status as a place to go for defensive backs.

The history of Illinois defensive backs getting to the NFL via the draft is not rich by any means. Stan Wallace in 1954, George Donnelly in 1965, Vontae Davis in 2009, and Henry Jones in 1991. That is the list of Illini defensive backs selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. We haven’t had one picked since 2009.

Throughout the entire history of the Illinois football program, we have only had 20 defensive backs picked in the first seven rounds of the NFL Draft. That is not a good number by any means. But two out of those 20 defensive backs were picked in the last two drafts.

Nate Hobbs was picked in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders. He had a great rookie season where he would finish with 74 tackles, three pass deflections, one interception, one forced fumble, and one sack.

Pro Football Focus named Hobbs to their All-Rookie team. The talented defensive back has started his sophomore year off on the right foot as well. Hobbs finished the first game of the 2022 season with nine tackles, one pass deflection, and one forced fumble. He was also rated as the No. 5 cornerback in the NFL in coverage by PFF, and Next Gen Stats had him as the No. 5 lowest target rate at just 7.1%.

I think it is fair to say Hobbs is a menace for the Raiders. He is going to be a staple in the NFL for a long time. But he wasn’t the only defensive back drafted in the last two years. Kerby Joseph, picked by the Detroit Lions in the 2022 NFL Draft, made his debut on Sunday.

Joseph didn’t see much action in his first NFL game, going for just one tackle on the day, but this is just the beginning of what could be a great career. The Lions always need more defensive back help, and that is why they chose him in the third round.

I don’t think Illinois is even close to finished with sending defensive backs to the NFL either. Illini defensive back Devon Witherspoon is starting to rise in the national spotlight. Illinois is now three games into the season, and according to PFF, he has the most forced incompletions and interceptions combined among power-five players.

Let that sink in for a second. Witherspoon, a player who wasn’t ranked coming out of high school and his only power-five offer was from Illinois, leads everyone, including five-star defensive backs, in forced incompletions and interceptions combined.

To be successful at the college level, you don’t have to have stars but you have to be a dog. You have to want it more than the next guy. Witherspoon bucked the recruiting sites and what they thought about him and worked his butt off to become one of the best defensive backs in the country. That hard work will eventually pay off in the form of an NFL Draft pick as well.

Honestly, don’t be shocked if this is Witherspoon’s last season with the Orange and Blue. If he continues to play at a high level, it wouldn’t shock me to see a ton of scouts eyeing him. Witherspoon has a chance to be the third straight Illinois defensive back selected in the NFL Draft. That would be something that has never happened in the history of the program.