Illinois Football Receives a MASSIVE Commitment.

Originally posted on Armchair Illini
By Kirkland Chappell | Last updated 1/29/24

Illinois Football Receives a MASSIVE Commitment.

Illinois Football Offensive Line Coach Bart Miller has gotten to work on the recruiting trail for 2025. After adding Guard Michael McDonough of Bolingbrook Illinois first to this class, Miller strikes the recruiting trail once again. This time, in the form of a massive offensive tackle, from Big Ten neighbor Wisconsin. This is now the third commitment of the 2025 class for Bret Bielema, after also adding quarterback Carson Boyd of St. Louis this week. A well-rounded 3-star prospect from Cardinal Ritter HS.

What Griffin Rousseau’s Commitment Means

On Monday (1-29) the Illini received a commitment from Massive offensive tackle Griffin Rousseau. The Wisconsin native is a 3-star recruit, and a top-50 offensive tackle in the 2025 class according to 24/7 sports. The 7th ranked lineman in the state of Wisconsin. Griffin chose the Illini over Duke, Syracuse, and FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. The lengthy lineman stands in at 6’7 and 300 lbs. Certainly, Griffin has the measurables for a quality tackle in the Big Ten. A native of Stoughton Wisconsin, Rousseau is another big win for Illinois in enemy territory. Especially when the players comes from Bielema’s old stomping grounds. Again, this is the third commitment for Illinois 2025 class. Illinois has had a recent track record of slower starts and strong finishes on the recruiting trail, and this will be the hottest start yet for Bret Bielema. Illinois has to get deeper with quality at this position as they ease into the new conference expansion. A player like Rousseau helps quite a bit.

The Film

On film, you can see that Griffin is STRONG. He delivers a powerful first punch, and even in pass sets, many of his competitors leave their feet. A lot of young tackles with measurables like Griffin struggle with a high pad level. However, he seems to have good hip flexibility to get low, and finish blocks with leverage. It is certainly going to be an interesting development to see Rousseau develop in Tank Wright’s weight room. Bart Miller has a great track record thus far of developing NFL talent at Illinois. With the right work, Griffin Rosseau will be another great addition to that group.