Despite losing to Ohio State on Saturday and falling out of the AP Top 25 for the first time all season, Illinois continued to stay busy on the recruiting front by offering a pair of out-of-state defensive linemen over the weekend.Illini coach Bret Bielema and his staff offered three-star defensive lineman Lance Dawson, from Avon (Ohio), and Josh Johnson, from Key West (Florida).
The scouting profiles
Dawson is currently committed to Cincinnati, but that didn’t prevent Bielema from pursuing him. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Dawson is the 21st-ranked player in the state of Ohio and the 57th-ranked defensive lineman in the nation, per 247Sports.
Don’t let Dawson’s size fool you: The big kid is athletic. He posted a video of himself dunking last week, and coaches absolutely love defensive linemen who can get up. Why? Because they’re more likely to break up passes at the line of scrimmage.
Meanwhile, Johnson is a 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive lineman who has been racking up offers. Over the past two weeks, Johnson has received offers from four Big Ten programs – including Iowa, Maryland, and Minnesota – and despite not being unranked by major recruiting services, has nine total scholarship offers.Johnson has posted game tape from this year, and you can’t miss him. He plays on both sides of the ball and consistently wins at the line of scrimmage due to an excellent get-off.
What does Bielema need to do to land Dawson and Johnson?
Bielema needs to get both on campus immediately if he has any chance of landing either prospect. Illinois’ next home game is Nov. 1 (against Rutgers), and it’s imperative both are in attendance. Champaign has so much to offer, so the sooner both are on campus, the better.
What role would both play if they chose Illinois?
Bielema and his coaching staff have done a good job of rotating defensive linemen over the years, so it wouldn’t be a total surprise if either, or possibly both, see the field right away as freshmen. Even if neither starts, each should have a chance to earn early reps on special teams and as part of a rotation, and could move up the depth chart on the defensive line throughout their Illini tenure.
Where will both end up?
It wouldn’t be a shock if both players ended up in Champaign, but Illinois has a much better shot of landing Johnson than Dawson, who is already committed to Cincinnati. Best guess: Dawson attends Cincinnati next year and Johnson ends up at Illinois. The Illini have a good track record of landing players from the Sunshine State.
