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CHAMPAIGN — With Illinois highlighted among six teams at the Big Ten kickoff in Indianapolis on Tuesday, we embark on a new football season with the realization that programs are judged — and elite recruits are influenced — by how they supply the NFL market.
And yet, draft levels aren’t always determined by performance on the field. We say the “eyes don’t lie” but maybe they do.
Isaiah Williams became the second-leading receiver in Illini history as he caught 82 passes for the second straight year and was named, by coaches and media, All-Big Ten First Team.
But Williams was overlooked in the draft (signed as a free agent with Detroit) while his less touted teammate, Casey Washington, was chosen in the NFL’s sixth round by Atlanta.
Washington played 55 games in five seasons. In the first 54, he managed 64 receptions, which is 1.2 per game. Then, in the 55th game, a 45-42 loss to Northwestern, he ran wild with nine catches for 218 yards.
That eye-opener, coupled with two other factors, drew Atlanta interest:
(1) Washington tested well in running and jumping — what is this, track? — and (2) unlike the diminutive Williams, the 6-foot-2 Washington projected as a special-teams player even though he was never used that way at Illinois.
Rising, fallingSo, yes, those huge NFL scouting staffs often base draft decisions in studies taking place months after the season, and frequently based on projections.
This isn’t new. Look back to 2022. Chase Brown rushed for 1,643 yards at Illinois, third best in school history, and would have led the nation if he hadn’t skipped the ReliaQuest Bowl. But he is a running back, which is an automatic downgrade in the draft, and didn’t quite “measure up” in the postseason tests.
He wasn’t drafted until the fifth round by Cincinnati, two rounds behind his twin brother, Sydney, a safety.
The Chase Brown situation might have been expected. But the three top Illini draftees earlier this year, like Washington, carried unexpected elements from January to April. Johnny Newton slipped a notch while Isaiah Adams and Tip Reiman went higher.
— Johnny Newton: An exceptional pass rusher, he is arguably Illinois’ best defensive tackle in 60 years of generally sub-par Illini defensive line play. Over the last six decades, only Corey Liuget was an NFL first-round pick, going to San Diego with the 18th pick in 2011.
Illini great Moe Gardner played a different position, nose guard, both collegiately and with Atlanta in the NFL, and is not listed among the tackles.
Newton was a First Team All-American by the Football Writers Association, Sporting News, Associated Press and the American Football Coaches Association. He was at times sensational on the field.
Even in an offense-heavy draft featuring quarterbacks, Newton was projected among the top-15 picks in January, maybe even top 10. He slipped in part due to his inability to perform at the NFL combine (surgery) and his lack of long-armed ranginess that his fellow tackle, Keith Randolph Jr., possessed.
Two defensive tackles were drafted ahead of Newton, who was tabbed by Washington in the second round and remains on the current injury list (due to January foot surgery) with training camp set to begin.
Randolph was overlooked and signed as a free agent with the Chicago Bears, his contract showing $220,000 in guaranteed salary.
— Isaiah Adams: This 315-pound Canadian transferred from junior college and was exceptional as a guard in 2022.
With Alex Palczewski gone, necessity called for his move to right tackle last season and, if questions were raised at that position, he once again showcased his guard skills in the Senior Bowl.
So the all-star game gave him a shot in the arm (third round by the Arizona Cardinals) while his fellow tackle, Danville’s Julian Pearl, was undrafted and picked up by Baltimore.
— Tip Reiman: No player in UI history made a bigger postseason jump in the draft than the former walk-on from South Dakota. His interview on why he was bypassing his senior season was brilliant, and that undoubtedly carried over into his NFL mental tests.
At season’s end, the tight ends from Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Maryland received all the Big Ten votes at the position. And he had modest stats, catching just 19 passes each of the last two years. But Reiman tested well in terms of speed and blocking skills, and the Arizona Cardinals chose him in the third round.
So, for various reasons, some Illini were drafted higher that expected, and some were disappointed, and how these athletes performed in front of our eyes at Memorial Stadium wasn’t as pertinent as we might have thought.
