Bret Bielema Reveals Illinois Football's Under-the-Radar Position Battle

With the personnel turnover Illinois football underwent this offseason (56 newcomers), there are ongoing position battles up and down the roster. Still, at least one position seems entirely settled: quarterback.

Transfer Katin Houser, who was one of three player representatives for the Illini at Big Ten Media Days last week, will be the Week 1 starter for Illinois. That isn’t up for debate.

As for QB2, though, the top spot on the chart behind Houser remains up for grabs. In fact, Illini coach Bret Bielema said he expects that race to be “one of the bigger, non-storyline battles going on during fall camp." And at least for now, there appear to be two frontrunners – but there may be a third not far behind.

Bret Bielema outlines the QB2 battle

“I think Carson [Boyd] and Michael [Clayton] are in a great competition,” Bielema said. “To be quite honest, Dane [Eisenmenger] has been very impressive. I’m super-excited to get him out here and see where he is. But I do feel really good.

“I thought Michael and Carson are two guys that, when we signed them, when we got them here, we kind of thought what we saw in recruiting is what we truly got."

Bielema then outlined exactly what he is looking for out of that position, and offered a quick comparison of Boyd and Clayton.

“Be able to run our offense,” Bielema said. “They definitely have different strengths and weaknesses. One of the things that has been really fun in my career … I started looking at all the quarterbacks that we’ve had play in the NFL everywhere I’ve been, and none of them really have the same skill set.

“They all kind of change. They have different strengths, different weaknesses. And it’s just fun to kind of see these guys ... both have extreme high levels of talent. I think they [both] got a very live arm. Both of them are a little bit different in their delivery and how they act, and definitely [have] a different skill set.”

Bret Bielema on the recruiting process for Dane Eisenmenger

As for Eisenmenger, whom the Illini brought on to the roster less than two months ago, Bielema appears to be excited about the future prospects of the former Unity (Tolono, Illinois) star.

“He was a guy we evaluated really early on,” Bielema said of Eisenmenger. “Actually, Barry [Lunney Jr.] and I, when we started having the conversations about having a spot to bring him in, Barry made a reference after the first week or two of him being here. When you evaluate a quarterback early on, you kind of make a decision – you move, right?

“And, obviously, we signed Michael and we kind of got him early in that same recruiting class. I’ve never really signed two quarterbacks. When I made the decision [for] Dane to join us, I actually went to Michael and explained to him what was going on because I know I was bringing him into his class. … But we were so thin in that room with Jershaun [Newton moving to wide receiver].

“That was really the genesis of it. But he’s a guy, from where we evaluated him probably two and a half years ago to where he is today, [who] has made a huge jump and obviously had a great senior year. [He’s] a special leader, great kid in the program.”

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