Illinois Football: 7 Illini players who have struggled so far in 2023

4. Dylan Rosiek – Linebacker

It has been pretty clear that the Illinois defense is not the same as last season. The defensive backs are struggling because nearly every starter departed for the NFL. The defensive line is starting to come around but they haven’t looked great either.

But when it comes to the defense struggling, the Illinois linebackers take the cake. This unit has been horrifically bad, and it needs to improve starting this week against Penn State. The linebacker who has struggled the most is Dylan Rosiek.

Rosiek has seen 100 snaps at linebacker this season, and it seems like he is completely lost on the football field. On top of looking lost, he tends to be slow getting to the ball carrier as well.

Through two games, Rosiek has a defensive grade of 55.2, which ranks No. 463 out of 574 graded linebackers. That is about at the bottom of the barrel. The strength for Rosiek is his pass rush, which has a grade of 59.8.

The pass rush isn’t the issue, though. The biggest issue is his run defense. When Toledo and Kansas, both of whom had running quarterbacks, ran the run-pass option offense, this is where Rosiek would struggle the most. He has a 52.5 run defense grade through two games, which ranks No. 476 in the nation.

This is the lowest grade Rosiek has had in a season thus far. He is coming off a 2022 campaign where he had a defensive grade of 70.0. I hope this week in practice, Rosiek starts to learn how to defend the RPO offense or it could be a long season for the Illinois linebacker.