Illinois Football Has Their Next Great Running Back

Illinois Football Has Their Next Great Running Back

Illinois Football has had a tough season. However, they might have salvaged their season with a big-time win on the road against Maryland. Prior to this win, not much has gone right. One key point is in the running back room. After years of stability with Chase Brown, Illinois looked towards two younger backs to continue the dominance that Chase Brown had. Surprisingly, Illinois Football is relying on two even younger backs that not many expected to call upon instead. Instead of Reggie Love and Josh McCray, Kaden Feagin and Aidan Laughery were huge in the win vs Maryland.

Love and McCray are both injured, and Illinois was forced to rely on a true freshman and redshirt freshman. Through all of this, Illinois seems to have found their next great running back.

Kaden Feagin.

Feagin is one of the highest-ranked recruits to commit to Bret Bielema. The four-star prospect chose Illinois over offers from Notre Dame, Iowa, and Miami. Feagin is a huge body that is an absolute truck at the running back position. He showed that during the win over Maryland. The Central Illinois native put up 19 carries for 84 yards and 1 touchdown. His tenacity and ability to bull people over were absolutely massive as Illinois stayed solid on the road against a talented Maryland team.

The true freshman will only get better from here, and his future is undoubtedly bright.

Shoutout to Aidan Laughery

Aidan Laughery was also a highly touted recruit that Illinois won over Iowa and Washington State. The Gibson City native has a speed burst that this current running back room does not have. Though he struggled with injury last year and missed a key block recently in the past few weeks, Laughery picked up a huge blitz that allowed Illinois to score the first touchdown. As Laughery continues to bulk up, he has the potential to be a Mike Epstein like running back.

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