The Illinois football team is heading into a season where many people are doubting the program.
Bret Bielema did a great job reloading the team after we lost Luke Altmyer to the NFL, as well as numerous other starters on the front lines.
A solid offseason of transfer portal work helped fill the voids. One great addition was wide receiver Jayshon Platt. He was supposed to be one of Illinois’ main wide receivers to start the season, but he has now been ruled out for the first game against UAB with an undisclosed injury.
“Those two guys (Jayshon Platt and Daniel Brown) are guys that we do factor into playing for us down the road here, we just don’t know exactly when they are going to be back,” said Bielema in his weekly press conference.
Brown is going to be more of a rotational guy who gets decent snaps, but Platt would have been one of the starters in week one for Illinois. While they aren’t going to be active for week one against the Blazers, the program does have an optimistic outlook on when they could return.
“Unfortunately, they weren’t with us this game but could be back with us very quickly.”
Getting someone like Platt back as soon as possible is needed for the Orange and Blue. This isn’t just a good transfer portal get. He is a big-time impactful player on the Illinois offense.
Platt is coming off a season where he had 46 receptions for 720 yards and five touchdowns for Florida Atlantic. He is a great option for Katin Houser, and getting him back for the Duke game is crucial.
Illinois football has some nice weapons outside of Jayshon Platt on the outside
It is tough not having Platt in the rotation for week one, but I think Illinois will be okay. This is a four-win UAB squad, so the Illini should be able to take care of business.
Bielema has also built the Illinois roster with some nice depth. I love the starting one-two punch of Hudson Clement and Collin Dixon. It doesn’t get much better than that in the Big Ten.
Behind them, there are a bunch of unproven but talented wide receivers. Illinois has a treasure trove of potential just waiting to burst out, and week one against the Blazers would be the perfect opportunity.
This injury hurts, but Bielema is clearly optimistic that Platt will be back rather soon. Let’s see how the young guns can do in week one to maybe put some pressure on the coaching staff when it comes to the depth chart.
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