Illinois Football: Top 2024 JUCO EDGE sets Illini official visit

Illinois football has high interest from one of the best junior college players for the class of 2024.

The Illini need to continue to stack talent when it comes to recruiting. For the 2024 class, we have 17 players committed and sit at No. 49 in the country. That number will hopefully improve over the coming weeks, as the early National Signing Day is December 20.

There are still options out there for the Orange and Blue. Illinois is in the mix for a four-star offensive lineman in AJ Dennis, who recently set up an official visit. On the defensive side of the ball, Bret Bielema and the Illinois coaching staff look to potentially add one of the best JUCO defensive players in the country as well.

On November 8, Allen Trieu of 247Sports reported that edge rusher Daniel Brown has set up an official visit to Illinois. He will take an official visit to Washington on November 17 and then trip to Champaign to take in the Illini program on November 24 for the Northwestern game.

Daniel Brown would help bolster an already solid Illinois football front seven

This season has been wild for the Illini. We have had moments when the defense played well, and that is usually when Jer’Zhan Newton is wreaking havoc. But Newton is departing after this season, and Illinois is going to need to find another disrupter.

While Brown doesn’t play on the defensive line, he is someone who can cause chaos. His specialty is clearly rushing the quarterback, as the talented EDGE has 48 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, and 17 sacks on the season. That isn’t a typo, Brown has 17 sacks for Hutchinson CC in 2023.

Illinois, and really any team in the country, could use that type of production. We are losing Ezekiel Holmes after this season, as he is a senior. Seth Coleman, by far our best outside linebacker, will be a senior in 2024.

I like Gabe Jacas, but he hasn’t taken the jump that I thought he would have this season. Jared Badie has a ton of potential as well as Calvin Smith. But, overall, there is Coleman and a bunch of unproven talent in the Illinois front seven.

If Bielema can land Brown, it would be huge for the program. This kid seems like a game-changer, and that is the type of player I want on the defense.