Illinois football lands big-time in-state commitment for 2026

The good recruiting news keeps trickling in, as the Illinois football team has landed another player for the class of 2026.

Coming into Monday, the Illini had five commitments and a national recruiting ranking of No. 31 in the country. Both of those numbers have now increased.

On Monday night, Hayes Fawcett of On3.com reported that Jacob Alexander has committed to Illinois.

Alexander is a 6-foot-4, 240-pound edge rusher from Lincoln-Way East High School in Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 513 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 43 edge rusher in the country and the No. 13 player coming out of Illinois.

There were a lot of programs after Alexander, but according to Fawcett, the talented recruit chose Illinois over teams like Michigan, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Illinois football is going to be nasty on the edge with a player like Jacob Alexander

The class of 2026 is really shaping up to be something special. After the commitment from Alexander, Illinois has the No. 23 class in the country.

Alexander gives Illinois its second defensive commitment for the 2026 class. He joins fellow edge rusher Kingston Shaw as the two defensive recruits.

For the Illini, edge rushers turn into outside linebackers. We are losing a ton of talent over the next season or so too.

Seth Coleman had a great career with the Illini, and he is now gone. Alec Bryant, Daniel Brown, and Gabe Jacas will depart after the 2025 season.

I really like the potential of Jojo Hayden. He should round into a solid outside linebacker. Beyond Hayden, I am not confident in any other player at outside linebacker at this point. That could change in 2025, but there is no proven player suiting up beyond Hayden.

That could mean Alexander will make an impact as a freshman in 2026. He has the physical gifts to play snaps from day one. This was a huge commitment for the Illini and one that will pay dividends down the road.