Illinois Football: Illini flips JUCO edge from Oklahoma

Illinois football continued to add to their class of 2023 on Friday night with a big flip of a recruit.

The Illini will have one of the best defensive front sevens that I have seen in over a decade. The return of the law firm, Johnny Newton and Keith Randolph Jr., on the defensive line will go a long way in stopping opposing offenses.

I am also excited about what we have with our linebackers. Gabe Jacas is coming off a Freshman All-American campaign, and he is ready to take the next step. His development is going to be fascinating to watch.

Bret Bielema isn’t finished adding players to that front seven, though. On Friday night, Laine Jenkins took to social media to announce that he has committed to the Illini. This is a big commitment and one that will make an immediate impact on the Illinois defense.

Illinois football beat out some solid programs to land junior college transfer Laine Jenkins

Jenkins is a 6-foot-6, 255-pound edge rusher out of Butler Community College in Kansas. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 44 junior college (JUCO) player in the class of 2023. Jenkins is also the No. 3 edge rusher in the country and the No. 13 player coming out of Kansas.

Illinois was able to land Jenkins after he had some pretty solid programs vying for his services. In fact, he was actually committed to Oklahoma coming into Friday. In addition to the Sooners, Jenkins also had offers from teams like Indiana and Iowa State.

I believe Jenkins will have three years left to play in the Illinois defense. This should give him plenty of time to get the speed of the DI game and to develop on the field.

It is great that the Illini were able to land Jenkins. We needed more depth at outside linebacker. I have Jacas and Seth Coleman starting at the two outside linebacker positions. They were both mainstays on the Illinois defense in 2022.

Alec Bryant, Ezekiel Holmes, and Jared Badie should all get plenty of snaps as primary backups to Jacas and Coleman. What the addition of Jenkins is going to do is give Trey Smith a chance to redshirt in year one. Smith is a true freshman and was going to have to play this season. But now he can save a year and develop.

I love this addition by the Illini. Jenkins should fit in nicely as a primary backup to our great starting outside linebackers. This Illinois defense is going to be dangerous in 2023.