Illinois Football: Illini add another top-tier quarterback for 2023

Illinois football has added a potential starter at the quarterback position for 2023.

This past season was amazing for the Illini. We were coming off a decade-plus of mediocre-to-below-mediocre football. With that depressing reality, it has been nice to see the program change course under Bret Bielema’s leadership.

Bielema was handed the keys in 2021, and there was little he could do to shape the roster into what he wanted. But, this past season, Bielema was able to bring in quarterback Tommy DeVito.

The addition of DeVito from Syracuse was incredible for the Orange and Blue. He showed flashes of being special in the spring game, and then he quickly became one of the best quarterbacks in program history. He is even on pace to set the Illinois football single-season completion percentage record.

After leading Illinois to an eight-win campaign and, hopefully, a bowl victory, DeVito tried to return for one more season. He wanted to play for the Illini in 2023. That appeal to the NCAA was denied, though. The ReliaQuest Bowl is going to be DeVito’s final game for Illinois.

Every Illinois fan should be thankful that DeVito took a chance and came to Champaign. Now that his time is about up, Bielema had to look for another option at quarterback in 2023. We had to at least have more depth and options to lead our offense.

On Thursday night, Illinois football got that depth and a potential starter for 2023. Ole Miss transfer Luke Altmyer took to Twitter to announce that he has decided to end his transfer recruitment and commit to Illinois. This is a huge addition for the Illini.

The Illinois football team has landed a top-tier quarterback for the 2023 campaign.

Coming out of Starkville High School in Mississippi, Altmyer was one of the highest-ranked players in the country. He was rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 196 player in the class of 2021. He was also the No. 21 quarterback in the nation and the No. 4 player coming out of Mississippi.

Growing up in Mississippi, naturally, Altmyer would pick Ole Miss as his landing spot coming out of high school. He would pick the Rebels over teams like Florida State and Alabama.

Altmyer played sparingly in the two seasons at Ole Miss. He threw for 192 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in 2021 and followed that up with 125 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception this past season.

Illinois is now getting a blank canvas with Altmyer. He hasn’t really cut his teeth at the college level because of the talent that was ahead of him on the Ole Miss roster. With three years of eligibility remaining, I believe the future of Illini football is on the shoulders of Altmyer.

The Illinois quarterback room is going to look completely different in 2023. DeVito is departing after the bowl game. His backup, Artur Sitkowski, is not going to be on the roster as a player. Even though it sounds bad that these two are leaving, I am pretty excited about the quality of depth Illinois is going to have entering the 2023 campaign.

I think there is a strong chance Altmyer is our starting quarterback. He is a former four-star and top 200 recruit. The backup will most likely be a competition between Donovan Leary and Cal Swanson.

Leary has been with the Illinois program for two seasons and knows the system, and Swanson is coming in from the 2023 class and is a top 900 recruit. There is some serious potential in the Illinois quarterback room for next season, and that is exciting to think about.

The addition of Altymer is huge for the Illinois football team. He should join the team for spring practice, and this will only help the team gel for the fall. The future is so bright.