The 88 Illini: #84-#81

I'm just a boy, standing in front of a reader, asking them to understand just how hard it has been to assemble this list in 2026. I could start every one of these posts with some form of "this is impossible" but I still wouldn't be able to fully emphasize how different this is from the last 17 years.

Maybe I can explain it this way. I've had a way I've ranked offensive linemen on this list for the last decade and a half. I could do that same thing this year and rank a bunch of the true freshmen right here in the 80's (just like I've done every other year). But now, with 105 roster spots (which we've stretched to 114), most of the true freshmen didn't even make the list. Why? Because for the offensive line...

• We added two transfers (one from Wisconsin, one from Colorado State).
• We added three jucos.
• We added two true freshmen (Pritchard and Smith) who appear to be two of the top freshman offensive linemen we've added in the last 20 years.

So I can't apply any of my normal "here's how to approach this" rules. Everything is thrown off (at every position). I don't know if this is anywhere close to correct but for the 84th-best player I have...