The Illinois football program is in the middle of building out the class of 2027.
Following a top 25 class of 2026 is going to be tough for the Illini. Those types of recruiting classes don’t grow on trees around these parts, but Bret Bielema managed to kick off the 2027 group on a high note.
Illinois currently has the No. 59 class in the country, which isn’t bad to start. We have four commitments right now, and more players are starting to join the official visit list for the month of June.
On Tuesday, Carter Napier took to social media to join that list. He announced he will be taking an official visit to Illinois on the weekend of June 19.
🚨🚨LOCKED IN!!!🚨🚨
— Carter Napier 3⭐️ DL (@CNapier2027) May 19, 2026
I will be in Champagne June 19-21 for my Official Visit with Illinois. Fired to to see @IlliniFootball. Go Illini!!!🟠🔵@Coach_JLT @BretBielema @CoachEmbleton @CoachMLinehan @NateMcNeal32 @HendricksonILL @AllenTrieu @SWiltfong_ @Bryan_Ault pic.twitter.com/1xhjDNEGIl
This isn’t Napier’s only official visit by any means. With roughly 21 scholarship offers on the table right now, he has four official visits lined up. He starts things off with Pittsburgh on May 28. Napier then heads to Michigan State on June 5, Minnesota on June 12, and finishes with Illinois on June 19.
Napier would be a good get to bolster any defensive line. He is a 6-foot-3, 265-pound defensive lineman from Springboro High School in Ohio. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 1104 player in the class of 2027. Napier is also the No. 123 defensive lineman in the country and the No. 41 player coming out of Ohio.
I am not sure why Napier’s recruiting ranking is so low. As I mentioned earlier, he has roughly 21 offers on the table right now. This includes solid programs like Iowa State, West Virginia, and Iowa, among others.
Bret Bielema continues to push to strengthen depth on the Illinois football lines
Recruiting momentum is starting to pick up for the Orange and Blue. We secured three commitments in the last two weeks.
What I am starting to notice by the commitments and by who is about to take official visits to Champaign is that Bielema is really focused on the Illinois front lines this offseason.
Two of the four commitments to the Illini right now are on the offensive line. We now have Carter visiting in June to help bolster the defensive line.
Out of the 17 official visits that are coming in June, five of those are on the front lines to help in the trenches. There is an effort to gain more depth on both the offensive and defensive lines, and I appreciate that.
I like that Illinois is in the mix for Carter. With that many power-four programs eyeing him, there has to be some talent that the recruiting sites aren’t picking up on.
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