Illinois Football: Crystal Ball has Illini flipping 3-star edge rusher

Illinois football could be in the process of flipping a recruit for the class of 2023.

Bret Bielema put together a solid class of 2022 for the Illini that ranked in the top 50. He is now trying to add the finishing pieces to the 2023 class so that group can also finish in the top 50.

Last Saturday, Illinois was able to land top 1000 recruit Saboor Karriem for 2023. He was a great addition to the program, and now Bielema is on the hunt for another recruit in Maverick Gracio.

Gracio is a 6-foot-3.5, 220-pound edge rusher from Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, Florida. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 1402 player in the class of 2023. He is also the No. 114 edge rusher in the country and the No. 200 player coming out of Florida.

On October 23, Illinois came in with an offer to Gracio. The Illini joined teams like Purdue and Pittsburgh in showing interest in the talented edge rusher. But there is one speed bump Illinois has to get through and that is the fact that Gracio has already made a commitment.

Illinois football could be in the midst of flipping 2023 edge rusher Maverick Gracio.

Out of the roughly six scholarship offers on the table right now, one team stood out to Gracio the most. On August 14, he decided to make a commitment to Kent State. The Golden Flashes received this big commitment, but could there be a change of heart coming soon?

Illinois came in with their offer to Gracio on October 23. He has now scheduled an official visit to Champaign on November 4. Just two days after the Illini offer, Jeremy Werner of 247Sports submitted a Crystal Ball Prediction for Gracio. Werner has the edge rusher flipping his commitment from Kent State to Illinois with a confidence of eight out of 10. That usually means it is going to happen.

This would be another huge addition to the Illinois football program. We are loading up on edge rushers, and that is exciting. I think the proof is in the pudding with what Ryan Walters and the Illinois coaching staff can do with players who enter as edge rushers. Just look at the freshman season that Gabe Jacas is having. He is most likely going to be a freshman All-American.

Illinois is building a solid class of 2023. Adding Gracio would give us a little boost. There are a few other big-time talents that I am eyeing as well. Hopefully, we can land back-to-back top 50 groups.