No 4-star, no problem, as Illinois football freshman shines bright in debut

Since Bret Bielema took over the Illinois football program, we have been able to bring in some solid recruiting classes.

The class of 2024 is the most recent group to join the team. These players are freshmen right now for the Illini, and nearly all of them are either expected to redshirt or not contribute too much to the program this season.

It isn’t often that a freshman can come into a program and make an immediate impact, especially if they aren’t one of those four or five-star recruits as they get over there at Alabama and Ohio State.

Bielema seems to have found a diamond in the rough from the class of 2024, though. There were multiple surprises that caught my eye on Thursday night against Eastern Illinois, and one of those surprises was Joe Barna playing a lot of snaps.

Nothing stood out about Barna on paper when it came to his recruitment. He was only a three-star recruit who was ranked as the No. 1336 player in the class of 2024. He was also the No. 139 defensive lineman in the country and the No. 33 player coming out of Illinois.

The Illini saw potential in this kid, though. Barna picked the Orange and Blue, and the development process started. Barna went from 6-foot-4, 240 pounds on his recruiting profile to now checking in at 6-foot-4, 265 pounds. It is amazing what a summer with a college training program can do.

Joe Barna saw important snaps for the Illinois football team, and that shouldn’t slow down anytime soon

While bulking up and getting a more college-ready body is important, it still doesn’t give you the skills to be an impactful player on the field in meaningful games. Barna still had to perform, and on Thursday, he showed that he is here for the long haul.

Eastern Illinois had roughly 54 snaps on Thursday. Barna ended up playing 26 of those snaps at outside linebacker, so nearly half the time, he was out there on the Illinois defense.

Shockingly, as a true freshman, Barna wasn’t a liability on the field either. In fact, he was one of the best defensive players Illinois had making plays.

Barna finished the game with three tackles, one sack, and one tackle for loss in his outside linebacker role. He was effective in rushing the passer and caused chaos in the backfield by making tackles and busting through blockers. Barna’s strength even stood out multiple times when he was able to take on older and bigger blockers by himself.

At the end of the day, Barna ranked No. 17 out of all edge defenders so far at the FBS level, according to Pro Football Focus. He had a great first game of the season for an experienced veteran, let alone someone who is suiting up for the first time at the college level.

Bielema has an eye for talent, and the fact Barna played nearly half the snaps in game one means they see something in this kid. Barna looked good against Eastern Illinois, and let's see if he can have a great encore performance against a top-25 Kansas team that comes to town next week.