Illinois Football: Three Players that would be huge to retain

Gabe Jacas

Gabe Jacas had a dominant junior season totalling 8 sacks and 66 total tackles. His athleticism and ability to rush the quarterback were instrumental in the rebound of the Illini defense. With current nose tackles Dennis Briggs Jr and Te’Rah Edwards running out of eligibility, Jacas has a chance to anchor a rebuilt defensive line. On top of that, fellow OLB Seth Coleman will also be graduating. Illinois needs proven production on the defensive line and if they can convince Jacas to come back for one more go-round, that would be huge.

Xavier Scott

Illinois Football has built a robust tradition of developing defensive backs into NFL starters and Xavier Scott has the chance to continue that trend. Scott had an outstanding junior season with 4 interceptions and 6 pass deflections. He has great ball-hawking skills and certainly has similarities to former Illini, Quan Martin. Scott, however, is not as athletic and explosive as Martin is and could be swayed to return based on his athletic measurements. Illinois football has plenty of young, talented defensive backs, but could still use Xavier Scott’s experience and leadership.

Luke Altmyer

It all starts with the quarterback. For the past three years, Illinois football has been extremely fortunate to have had very strong quarterback play. Tommy DeVito and Luke Altmyer have provided major stability to the Illini after having subpar quarterback play for the past decade. Altmyer’s case is similar to Kofi Cockburn returning for his Junior year. There are certainly more enticing financial packages out there, however, the marriage between Altmyer and Illinois works so well. After all, Altmyer spent two years at Ole Miss and remembers what it is like to not be in the right situation.

Luke has made it clear that he loves being the guy that Illinois and if he returns he has a chance to go down as an Illini great.

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