Can Illini show off depth at receiver position?

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – Illinois football has proven to have one of the best receiving duos in the Big Ten through five games.

Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin have combined for 634 receiving yards as the Illini have gotten off to a 4-1 start. They both rank in the Top 15 in the conference in receiving yards, and Bryant’s six receiving touchdowns have him tied for second in the league.

However, the Illini could benefit from more production in the wide receiver room beyond their dynamic duo. After Franklin and Bryant, Illinois doesn’t have a receiver with 75 receiving yards on the season.

“The more guys you can have that people have to game plan for the better,” said Illinois wide receivers coach Justin Stepp. “Obviously Pat and Zakhari have done a good job, but we’ve had guys step up and make plays. We just got to continue to be consistent, continue to find ways to get other guys involved and those guys got to go make those plays.”

Stepp also spoke on the challenge and importance of other receivers on the roster staying locked in despite knowing that a bulk of the targets might go to those top two pass-catchers.

“As a coach, and as the coordinator with Barry, you design certain things and there’s obviously a progression throughout that route,” Stepp said. “But our biggest thing in our room is you got to run every route to win. You don’t know when you’re going to get it. That coverage could shift, it could change, they could obviously play a different coverage than what we game planned for. You got to be ready. You got to be in your spot, relative to time and spacing to the quarterback. So that’s what we try to focus on and that’s what we try to stress in our room is hey man you never know when you may be running just a mandatory outside release and all the sudden it’s coming your way. So you got to run every route to win.”

Six other receivers besides Franklin and Bryant have caught passes for the Illinois offense in 2024. Hank Beatty and Collin Dixon have each tallied five or more receptions, while Malik Elzy has just three catches but caught a touchdown in the season opener against EIU.

Dixon has taken a jump in his second year of college football, from redshirting as a true freshman in 2023 to becoming a regular on the field when Illinois has the ball.

“I’m really proud of that kid and how far he’s come from the spring,” Stepp said of Dixon. “…The thing that helps Collin is he is incredibly smart… He can take things from the meeting room to the practice field and then it obviously shows up in games… He’s the definition of what coach [Bielema] wants in this program and there’s no secret of why he’s played well.”

“Whatever [the team] asked me to do I was just going to go do it to the best of my capabilities,” Dixon said of his offseason progression. “… Just go out there and keep doing what I’ve been doing and just keep showing the coaches that they can believe in me and being consistent.”

Illinois host Purdue on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2:30 p.m.

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