Illinois Football Suffers a Surprise Departure at Tight End

A Surprising Loss

Illinois Football has suffered another surprising loss in Robby Discher’s tight end unit.

On Wednesday afternoon, Illini head coach Bret Bielema announced that TE Nathan Guinn has stepped away from the football team. The redshirt freshman was in line to be an important depth piece this Fall, after the loss of starter Cole Rusk. Guinn is a big tight end (6’6 – 245 lbs), who could have been a rotational contributor in the passing attack.

However, the Florida natives’ departure leaves the unit even thinner, with around 48 hours until kickoff.

Vero Beach tight end/wide receiver Nathan Guinn before a spring football game against Palm Beach Central on Thursday, May 12, 2022, at the Citrus Bowl in Vero Beach. Vero Beach won 28-19.
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The Less Than Ideal Situation for Illini Football

Certainly, the sky is not falling for Illinois. However, after suffering another major blow to the tight end position, the Illini Football staff must rely heavily on Tanner Arkin and Henry Boyer. Certainly, these two highly talented players, will need to take a ton of reps this fall. Additionally, the duo will need to take a leap in their passing game quickly.

Arkin

According to head coach Bret Bielema, Arkin is the new leader of the unit. The Colorado State transfer was even voted a team captain by his peers. However, Tanner only has one target at Illinois. Even though yes, it was a touchdown, Arkin is still unproven in the passing game.

And with that @IlliniFootball is on the board thanks to @ArkinTanner. 🔥

📺: FS1/@CFBonFox pic.twitter.com/vryLMmEn7Z

— Illinois on BTN (@IllinoisOnBTN) October 21, 2023

 Boyer

Henry Boyer will be another solid option for Illinois as well and will take a ton of snaps this fall. However, he is a really big, strong player and blocking is this dude’s meat and potatoes. He will certainly need to work on his hands, but, this is an opportunity to make a splash. Can he step into a bigger role this fall? We will see if he gets some targets vs EIU.

Loss of Guinn

With that being said, the loss of Guinn becomes more apparent. Behind Cole Rusk, Nathan was your next prototype of a “Big, reliable hands end.”

Now, he is very young, and asking an 18-19-year-old to take major snaps in the Big Ten, is a major ask. However, the depth, and needed reliability could have certainly been impactful for Illinois this fall. Especially if this room were to suffer an injury.

Arkin and Boyer must become semi-reliable targets, to avoid Illinois becoming offensively transparent.

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