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

7. Seth Coleman – Linebacker

Illinois has a lot of youth on the defensive side of the ball. I blame some of the struggles on this youth, especially in the secondary.

But there are players on the defense who do have a ton of experience and need to step up their game. One of those players is linebacker, Seth Coleman.

Coleman had a solid 2022 season. He had 45.0 tackles, 6.0 pass deflections, and 4.5 sacks to help Illinois to eight wins. That was a special year for the program, and Coleman was a big part of the success.

This season has been different. 2023 has not started well for Coleman. He only has seven tackles on the season, and the numbers show his struggles.

Through two games, Coleman has a defensive grade of 53.4, which ranks No. 636 out of 695 edge defenders in the country. He is a true edge defender as well, checking in with 108 snaps on the line of scrimmage and just two snaps in a traditional linebacker role.

In 2021 and 2022, Coleman’s defensive grades were 72.4 and 71.6, respectively. A drop to 53.4 is a pretty big deal. He doesn’t have any specific area too low either. His run defense grade is 53.8, pass rush is 53.4, and coverage is 55.0.

I honestly believe that Coleman has just had a rough start to the season. His grade will jump up in the next few weeks. He is too good of a player to be playing like this. Let’s see a big game against Penn State to get the season back on track.