Illinois Football Lands Talented Florida EDGE Rusher

Illinois Football Lands Talented Florida EDGE Rusher

On Friday night, Illinois Football added another talented player to its class of 2024. Illinois landed a verbal commitment from Josaiah Knight, a three-star defensive line prospect from Florida. Knight is a former Cincinnati commit who now chose Illinois over power-five offers including Georgia Tech, Missouri and Arkansas. Per 247sports, Charlie Bullen and Terrance Jamison led the charge for the talented Floridian. Knight is the Illini’s 18th commitment to a very talented class of 2024. The Class ranks 42nd in the country per 247sports, and will hopefully continue to grow as the season progresses.

Knight fills a huge position of need at OLB despite it currently being one of the deepest positions on the team.

The OLB room

The outside linebackers are very deep on this team. Seth Coleman, Gabe Jacas and Alec Bryant are projected to be a dominant force alongside the Law Firm this season. Despite this, Coleman is running out of eligibility and Jacas is bound to make the jump to the NFL within the next two years. Illinois needs to continue to beef up this room in preparation. So far, they have been. Jared Badie, Mason Muragin, Trey Smith and Laine Jenkins all have the tools to make a long term impact. Adding a talented and long player like Knight continues that trend.

Knight had 13 tackles for loss and 6 sacks as a junior last year. He joins Wheaton North star, Joe Barna as the other EDGE rusher in this class.

Charlie Bullen’s impact

Overall, recruiting has been outstanding recently. Bret Bielema and his staff have ushered in an era of competent recruiting that Illinois has never seen before. Charlie Bullen has proved to continue that trend. The young coach seems to connect really well with players, and he has also worked with some of the best EDGE rushers in the NFL. He has made an immediate impact on the recruiting trail for Illinois and should be praised.