Illinois Football: Illini cap off wild recruiting day with offensive line commitment

Illinois football ended one of the craziest recruiting days I have seen in a while by landing our second offensive lineman commitment for 2024.

A busy official visit weekend ended up bearing fruit quite quickly, as the Illini had two recruits commit to the program on Sunday and another four players pledged on Monday.

The final piece to be put into place on Monday came in the form of Zafir Stewart. He took to social media to join the group in committing to the Illinois football program.

Zafir Stewart strengthens the Illinois football offensive line depth with his commitment

Stewart is a 6-foot-4, 320-pound interior offensive lineman from Imhotep Institute in Pennsylvania. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 1048 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 74 interior offensive lineman in the country and the No. 31 player coming out of Pennsylvania.

Numerous power-five programs were vying for Stewart’s commitment. He had roughly 11 scholarship offers with some of the bigger programs including Ole Miss, Nebraska, and Penn State. But Illinois was able to snag this talented big man.

Opinion

The first thing I notice when I look at Stewart is his size. At 6-foot-4, 320 pounds, he already has the frame to push around defensive players and protect our quarterback. Now it is time to mold this mountain of man into a star offensive lineman.

This was a great get for Illinois. With that many big-time programs eyeing Stewart, he clearly has a ton of talent. He helps the Illini strengthen the offensive line as well.

Illinois now has Stewart and Brandon Hansen coming in from the class of 2024. They will both come in and likely take a redshirt in year one. By year two, look for them to see snaps. By 2026, I see them both potentially starting on the offensive line.

Bret Bielema has done a great job recruiting since coming to Illinois. He is building from the inside out. The trenches are where you win games, which is what this program focuses on.