Illinois Football 2025 Scouting Report: Wide Receiver Hank Beatty

Scouting report

Hank Beatty is quick, sure-handed and physical for his size. He runs sharp routes, understands zone coverages and how to exploit them, and he has the athleticism and body control to get to passes thrown outside the frame of his body. He has a wider catch radius than most players his size, able to clean up after Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer when he faces pressure or makes a less-than-perfect throws. Beatty is smart, prepared and rarely makes negative plays. He's as dependable as they come.

For all his positive attributes, his size will always be something of a limiting factor. He is most effective in the slot, where he can get off the line unimpeded more often. He lacks the frame and power to serve as more than a screen-off blocker. But Beatty has so much to offer – including great experience, durability and, as a punt returner, an almost preternatural sense of developing angles and openings – that he rates out as a plus player.

Experience

Beatty has played in every Illinois game but one – a scratch in his true freshman year – since Barry Lunney Jr. took over as the team's offensive coordinator in 2022. That's invaluable experience, especially in a pivotal season for the Illini – one in which they lose both of last year's starters at receiver.

Last year was the first in Beatty's college career in which he received a significant number of reps and targets with the Illini offense, and he showed that the game isn't too big for him. He had 20 receptions and scored his first career touchdown – a critical one, as it turns out – against Rutgers in 2024. He also led the Big Ten and ranked fourth in the nation in yards per punt return (14.1) to earn third-team All-Big Ten as a return man.

Media highlights

What they're saying

"I said in my opening presser – I wasn't just trying to win the press conference – that I believe great organizations are built from within. And I think that Illinois has to be built by Illinois players. And you've got a guy like Aidan Laughery, but you can't just ignore Hank Beatty. Right down the street, at Rochester, Hank Beatty has probably had just as much to do with our success here in November as anybody. And those little things mean a lot," Illini coach Bret Bielema on Beatty, from Rochester, Illinois, after Illinois' 38-28 win over Northwestern in last November's regular-season finale.

2025 outlook

Beatty is the embodiment of Illinois' success under Bielema in Champaign. An undersized and somewhat overlooked high school performer (his only other Power 4 scholarship offer came from Iowa State), he was identified by the Illini coaching staff as an in-state player who could be developed and whose intangibles offered more than might be seen on the surface. (To be fair, Beatty was the 2021-22 Gatorade Illinois Football Player of the Year.)Beatty will have an opportunity to wrap up one of the two open starting receiver openings on offense – and he has earned it. But his versatility – including his ability to return punts and, if needed, kickoffs – adds so much value that Illinois' coaches will need to be a little selective about overusing him or putting him in harm's way too often. The team loses a ton of flexibility if he is compromised or unavailable on game day – as strong a testament of Beatty's ability as anything else.

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