A breakout player for the Illinois football team last season is now on his way to the NFL.
Not every player gets picked in the NFL Draft. There are plenty of examples of former Illini making a nice career in the professional ranks without ever seeing their name called in the seven rounds.
One of the most recent players who didn’t go in the 2023 NFL Draft but has now landed with a team is linebacker, Isaac Darkangelo.
On Saturday, it was announced right after the draft that Darkangelo would be heading to the Detroit Lions. The relatively unknown linebacker just two years ago is now going to be suiting up on Sundays.
Michigan kid is going to the @Lions #Illini // #HTTO // #famILLy // @isaacdarkangelo pic.twitter.com/fZPXDZ5j6L
— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) April 29, 2023
Former Illinois football linebacker Isaac Darkangelo will only continue to improve with the Detroit Lions
While Devon Witherspoon was the No. 5 overall pick and wasn’t ranked by recruiting sites coming out of high school, Darkangelo was in a similar boat. He didn’t have a single star next to his name and he wasn’t ranked nationally by 247Sports.
I would like to go a step further and say that Darkangelo didn’t even have a DI scholarship offer. Coming out of Catholic Central High School in Michigan, Darkangelo would actually end up with Northern Michigan of the DII ranks.
After two solid seasons with Northern Michigan, Darkangelo would hit the transfer portal and commit to Illinois. He played some in 2021, but his 2022 campaign sent this kid’s career skyrocketing.
Darkangelo would lead the team with 72 tackles on the season. He went from not getting a scholarship to play football at the DI level, to leading Illinois in tackles in an eight-win season, to now being signed by Detroit, which is his local team.
The story of Darkangelo is great. He has had to fight for everything on the football field, so there is no question in my mind that he will continue fighting with the Lions.