Illinois football eyeing Florida for a playmaking wide receiver

The Illinois football team always needs playmakers on the outside, and that is why this scholarship offer is intriguing.

Through October, the Illini sit with a top 30 class in the country for 2026. That is something Illinois fans haven’t seen since the 2000s. This is a new era of football, and Bret Bielema is leading the charge.

Illinois’ roster is currently loaded with quarterback talent, and more is coming down the road. This talent at the quarterback position is going to need wide receivers to pass to.

Just a few weeks ago, the Illini started targeting one of those wide receivers. Xavier Stinson took to social media to announce he had received a scholarship offer from Illinois.

Stinson is a 6-foot-2, 185-pound wide receiver from Vero Beach High School in Florida. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 629 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 94 wide receiver in the country and the No. 78 player coming out of Florida.

A wide variety of programs have come in with an offer to Stinson. He has roughly 30 scholarship offers on the table right now, with most of them being from big-time programs.

Illinois football is trying to keep Xavier Stinson in the Big Ten

While Stinson has had quite a few offers, he has also taken a liking to one program. Back in June, he had committed to UCLA. A lot has happened to the Bruins program in the past couple of months, so the talented wide receiver has reopened his recruitment.

Illinois is smart for offering Stinson a scholarship. This is his chance to still play high-level football in the Big Ten. The Illini have always had a good pipeline to the state of Florida, too.

I am always in favor of building out the wide receiver room. You never know who the next great pass catcher will be. Getting Stinson in the building for at least a visit is the next step in the process.