- Luke Altmyer taking the next step.
Concern: Luke Altmyer showed up at Illinois as a highly coveted transfer QB from Ole Miss that was a high 4* Elite 11 QB in High School. While Altmyer showed some glimpses he was essentially benched in favor of John Paddock in the season finale against Northwestern with a bowl game on the line. Altmyer took several big hits, and it eventually ended his season early and while he was cleared to play against NW, coach Bielema went with the hot hand in Paddock. Altmyer had a bit of the turnover bug in throwing 10 Ints in only 9 games, second worst in the B1G. That is a number he must improve upon, and he has to do this without the two leading receivers from a year ago and Tip Reiman all on NFL rosters.
Hope: While last year it wasn’t a great season from Altmyer it was better than we probably think, Luke completed 64.8% of his passes and 4 ints in the 8 games other than Penn St. Altmyer showed extreme toughness throughout the season getting up after each big hit until Minnesota. It’s funny but from a passing standpoint the Minnesota game was Altmyer’s best performance passing in 2023 going 24/31 for 213 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT. Altmyer gets the addition of Zakari Franklin who thrived in Barry Lunney JR’s offense at UTSA to take some of the sting out of losing Williams and Washington. Altmyer also gets a second year under Lunney and Lunney’s offense clearly made strides last year. The full playbook should be open for Altmyer who finished top 5 in several passing categories in the B1G to include; comp percentage (#5) YPA (#4) and efficiency (#5). The question for Altmyer, can he step up as a leader and be more consistent in 2024? If Altmyer can take the leap in his second year as a starter, Illinois will have a top 6 offense in the Big Ten which will be critical if they want to get to a bowl.
2. Aaron Henry making the 2nd year leap as a DC.
Concern: In his first year as the Defensive Coordinator, Henry had a rough go. Henry’s fast rise to a defensive coordinator role did not go well in year one and unlike Ryan Walter tenure at Illinois the defense got worse not better as the season progressed. Henry had to deal with multiple injuries on the DL and in the secondary that were critical to the demise of the defense in the second half of the season. In two of the last three games of the season Illinois allowed 45 points to average offenses in Indiana and NW. Illinois surrendered 24 points or more in every game other than FAU, Nebraska and Iowa. That cannot happen again in 2024 if the Illini hope to make a bowl game. To add futher insult to injury Illinois lost Newton and Randolph to the NFL, their two most reliable pieces on last year’s defense despite being banged up all year long with lower body injuries.
Hope: Bielema and Henry hit the portal hard on the defensive side of the ball specifically on the DL and the secondary. On the DL the Illini added 3 transfers that should be in the 2 deep immediately. Enyce Sledge an Auburn transfer who played sparingly but was a high 3* recruit, Gentile Hunt a Senior transfer from Florida A&M who had 5.5 sacks a year ago and the prize DL transfer in Dennis Briggs from Florida State who started 10 games in his career there and was a team captain his Sophomore season. Those additions along with the return of Terah Edwards at nose, potentially moving Jacas to End and the growth from returnees like Alex Bray, who saw significant time last year as a true freshman, Jeremiah Warren a highly sought-after DL who redshirted last year and the additions of true freshman Demetrius John and Eddie Tuerk the DL may have enough depth and quality players to hold up in the rigorous Big Ten.
In the Secondary the Illini added two impact transfers in Torrie Cox from Ohio who was a CFN Third team Freshman AA in 2022 and the prize transfer in Terrance Brooks from Texas and Honorable Mention All Big 12 performer in 23. The former 4 star recruit Brooks should be a starter immediately and possibly the best Corner on the team today. The Illini also added Chase Canada in from the JuCo ranks. Combine the additions with the hope of health for Matthew Bailey and Demetrius Hill at Safety, the returning contributors like Xavier Scott, Miles Scott and Tyler Strain the Illini have a solid base to build upon. If the Illini can see second year leaps from former 4* recruit Saboor Karriem and freshman contributor Jaheim Clarke the secondary will have the depth to not accept poor performances. Furthermore, the move from Anthony Fenelus to Corey Parker at DB coach seems to be an upgrade.
The defense doesn’t need to be great. It just needs to be better. The LB unit should be solid and the DL concerns me more than the secondary so someone on that DL is going to need to have a breakout year, here’s betting on Freshman AA Gabe Jacas to return to form.
3. The Offensive Line
Concern: Illinois entered 2023 with some hope that returning starters Adams, Pearl and Crisler would anchor a line that performed admirably in 2022. That didn’t happen. Illinois wanted to keep Adams at his best position at Guard and move Crisler to Tackle and to say it didn’t work would be an understatement. Crisler coming off an offseason injury really struggled at Tackle.. Illinois gave up 40 sacks, which ranked 116th out of 130 teams. The rushing attack wasn’t much better ranking 96th in CFB with a paltry 3.83 yards per rush. The concern compounds when you take into consideration that Illinois returns only two starters in Crisler and Josh Kreutz.
Hope: Like DL and the Secondary Illinois hit the transfer portal hard at the OL position. Illinois’ prize in the transfer portal was J.C. Davis, a LT from the University of New Mexico and the highest graded Tackle in the transfer portal and immediately plugs in at LT as Pearl’s replacement and all due respect to Julian, Davis the first team All Mountain West Tackle is an upgrade. Kevin Wiggenton II transfers in from Michigan State where he started in 6 Big Ten games will come in and be a plug and play at LG. While he would be a downgrade from Adams, Adams was moved to RT for most of the season so Wiggenton with his B1G experience should be an overall upgrade. Melvin Priestly transferred in form Grambling and should battle for the RT spot. Kruetz will man his C spot and Crisler should be penciled in at RG. The battle at RT will include stud sophomore Brandon Henderson and Massive experienced Junior Hunter Whitenack. Dezmond Schuster was a coveted JC recruit a year ago but couldn’t see the field in 2023 due to injury. The biggest positive coming into 2024 is depth. As of now, Illinois has a solid 8 guys they feel they can turn to on the OL. Throw in Josh Gesky and the potential of Magnus Moller and TJ McMillen breaking through you could have a legit 10 man+ competition for OL time. That is something Illinois has struggled with the past few seasons. If this unit can gel and the transfers are worth the hype, Illinois could return to form running the ball with a deep RB room and if Altmyer has time I think you will see significant growth. This offense could be really good and this unit can be the one to lead it.