There are some weaknesses with the Illinois football team this season, and those weaknesses have been exposed at times.
Even with dropping the last two contests, the Illini have a good football team that could finish 2025 with double-digit wins. With that, you can still pinpoint where Bret Bielema needs to address heading into 2026.
One of the areas is the offensive line. The right side of the Illinois offensive line is pretty weak, and we are losing all but one offensive lineman heading into next season. Bielema knows this, and that is why he is starting to really hit the junior college level hard with recruiting.
On Wednesday, Maika Matelau took to social media to announce he has received a scholarship offer from Illinois.
Matelau is a 6-foot-5, 320-pound interior offensive lineman from Mt. San Antonio College in California. He isn’t rated or ranked among the JUCO players, but he is starting to rack up the scholarship offers.
Right now, the 2026 target has five offers on the table from Boise State, California, North Carolina State, Washington State, and now Illinois.
Illinois football needs offensive linemen in the worst way for 2026
I love this offer from the Illini. Matelau is clearly a solid FBS offensive lineman, as many quality programs are vying for his services.
Illinois can offer Matelau a starting job in year one, too. We currently have one quality guard on the roster, and that is Josh Gesky, who anchors the left interior. Our starting right guard, Brandon Henderson, ranks No. 446 out of 663 guards in football. That is a bad number.
The bad thing is that Gesky is going to be departing next season. Illinois needs some talent to instantly replace the missing production. I think that is where Matelau comes into play. Illinois needs to really pursue this kid hard, and make sure he doesn’t slip through the cracks.