The Illinois roster has taken some real hits, but there’s still plenty of firepower left in Champaign. With Gabe Jacas, J.C. Davis and Miles Scott headed to the NFL draft, and Hank Beatty and Luke Altmyer signing unrestricted free agent deals with the Tennessee Titans and Detroit Lions, respectively, Bret Bielema is leaning on a new wave of difference-makers as he tries to chase a third straight bowl-game win.
That’s the backdrop for the five Illini who matter most heading into the 2026-27 season.
Matthew Bailey sits at the top of the list for good reason. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound safety brought nonstop energy last season, whether he was flying around the field or singing during the Seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field.
He started every regular-season game and finished as Illinois’ tackle leader with 76 total stops, including 59 solo tackles and four tackles for loss. Bailey missed the Music City Bowl against Tennessee after surgery to repair a lingering shoulder injury, but the operation was a success.
Now the two-time All-Big Ten honoree and Lott IMPACT watchlist safety is back to do what he does best.
The most important question on offense is who takes over at quarterback, and Katin Houser looks ready to answer it. His path has already taken him from Michigan State to East Carolina, and the numbers at ECU show the kind of jump Illinois is banking on.
After a rough redshirt freshman season with the Spartans, when he threw six touchdowns and five interceptions, Houser settled in with the Pirates and piled up 5,306 passing yards over two years. That total put him eighth on East Carolina’s all-time passing list.
With Luke Altmyer gone, Houser arrives with a real shot to become QB1.
Illinois also brought in a major target at receiver in Alex Perry. At 6-foot-5, he gives the offense size it can use right away, and his résumé is built on steady production.
Perry played in all 24 games over two seasons at Hawaii, where he totaled 472 receiving yards and three touchdowns. His real breakout came at Florida International, though, where he started all 13 games and led the team with 56 catches, 840 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.
Those numbers earned him All-CUSA First Team honors and plenty of attention when he entered the portal again. He has played in every game since 2023, and that durability only adds to his value.
Ca’Lil Valentine has already shown he can be a problem for defenses. The third-year running back isn’t small in impact, no matter what his first name suggests.
As a sophomore, he ran for 614 yards and four touchdowns on 131 carries, then followed that by starting all 13 games and posting a career-best 95 rushing yards at Purdue. Illinois has seen enough to know he can handle a bigger workload, and he enters this season with momentum on his side.
Then there’s Xavier Scott, who was already one of the league’s most disruptive defensive backs before injury interrupted his rise. In his junior season, Scott started all 13 games, made 49 tackles and picked off four passes on his way to All-Big Ten first team honors.
His 2025-26 season ended early after a leg injury at home against Western Michigan required surgery and forced him to redshirt the rest of the year. Even after many expected him to head to the draft, Scott chose to return to Champaign.
With Scott back alongside Bailey, Illinois has a secondary that can make life miserable for Big Ten quarterbacks.
In Other News...
Illinois May Have Found The Freshman Duo To Transform Underwood's Offense
Illinois has spent plenty of time building toward the 2026 season, and the latest step in that process comes with two freshmen who should fit neatly into Brad Underwoods push for more youth and more explosiveness. The class is already sitting No. 5 in the Big Ten, and the addition of two highly regarded in-state prospects gives the Illini another layer of upside as they continue shaping the roster around long-term growth.
One of the newcomers arrives with the kind of pedigree that tends to raise expectations quickly, while the other brings the size and athleticism that can change how a lineup looks on the floor. For Illinois, the appeal is obvious: if both players develop as hoped, they could give Underwood a different kind of offense than the one fans have seen in recent seasons, even if the true ceiling of that pairing will take some time to reveal itself. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois May Have Quietly Solved Its Biggest Post Altmyer Question
Illinois spent the offseason staring at its biggest post-Luke Altmyer question, and the answer may already be in the building. The Illini added transfer quarterback Katin Houser from East Carolina, a move that gives the offense a new centerpiece with some real Big Ten familiarity after his earlier time at Michigan State.
Housers 2025 tape and production helped make him one of the more intriguing quarterbacks in the portal, even if the level of competition leaves some room for debate. He also brings a rsum that includes a stint in the Big Ten and a season that put him on the radar for teams looking for a steadier hand under center, which is why Illinois can at least feel better about the transition than it did a few months ago. [Read more 🡒]
Why Shauna Green Took Illinois When So Many Saw A Lost Cause
Shauna Green did not exactly walk into the Illinois job with the kind of outside buzz that usually accompanies a high-profile hire. The programs recent history was hard to ignore, with only three winning seasons since 2007, repeated Big Ten struggles and no NCAA Tournament appearance in more than two decades. Even so, athletics director Josh Whitman had a vision for what the job could become, and he took the time to lay it out directly to Green in a way that made the possibility feel different than the rsum suggested.
Green still had to weigh what she was stepping into, and the lack of external encouragement around the hire only made the decision more complicated. Whitmans pitch helped shift the conversation inside her own home, and once the family perspective changed, the path toward Illinois became clearer. The bigger question now is whether the belief that sold Green on the job can translate into the kind of turnaround the program has been waiting for. [Read more 🡒]