Illinois Football 2025 Scouting Report: Inside Linebacker Dylan Rosiek

Healthy again, Rosiek seems ready to return to his place among the Big Ten's top tacklers and best interior linebackers

Aug 29, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini linebacker Dylan Rosiek (28) reacts to a fumble recovery during the second half against the Easter Illinois Panthers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Illinois on SI is delivering scouting reports for each of the key players on the Illini football team's 2025 roster. Below, we present our breakdown of Illini junior inside linebacker Dylan Rosiek. We will add more as other on-field contributors emerge during the season. Find our scouting reports of other Illinois players by searching in your favorite browser or clicking in our projected depth chart – coming soon.

Dylan Rosiek | Inside linebacker | Senior | No. 28

Hometown: East Lake, Florida

High school: East Lake

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 235 pounds

Preseason honors: Athlon preseason All-Big Ten third team, Phil Steele preseason All-Big Ten third team

Scouting report

Rosiek is an oak in the middle of Illinois' defense, a sturdy linebacker who holds up well at the point of attack and excels moving forward, filling holes between the tackles, chasing down the passer and cracking opposing skills players with the power to jostle balls loose. He has quality size for a Big Ten inside linebacker, and he gets good leverage on blockers – but also has deft enough feet to slip them when it suits him.

He isn't the most athletic of Illinois' linebackers – but that's a pretty high bar. Rosiek moves more than well enough for his position, though he is better off covering an area or pressuring the quarterback than matching up man-to-man in pass defense. He has a great football IQ, anticipates plays developing and has a big-play knack that can't be quantified.

Experience

Rosiek gradually built himself into a college player, then a starter and finally a star over his first three seasons in Champaign – which is why an injury that ended his 2024 season early shook up the team in the moment and left a big hole in the middle of the Illini defense. Reserves such as Malachi Hood, Joe Barna and Daniel Brown stepped into the void, but no one would disagree that Illinois was a lesser team without Rosiek in the lineup on game days.

In his breakout sophomore season of 2023, Rosiek led the Big Ten in forced fumbles (four), led the Illini in tackles (82) and was an All-Big Ten honorable mention. He maintained a similar pace as a junior last season, and authored a handful of huge plays – including the game-ending sack in the thriller over Purdue – before an injury (first described as a fractured leg and later called a foot injury, which required surgery) against Minnesota cut short his year. He is considered fully healed and drew rave reviews from coaches in preseason practices.

Year	Team	Games	Tackles	TFL-Yds	Sacks	INTs	Pass breakups	Forced fumbles
2024	Illinois	9	63	3-19	1.5	0	1	2
2023	Illinois	12	82	7.5-20	1	0	3	4
2022	Illinois	13	8	1-2	0	0	0	0
2021	Illinois	3	0	0	0	0	0	0

Media highlights

The sack that sealed the deal in Champaign 🔥#B1GFootball x @IlliniFootball pic.twitter.com/2XtqpN3WeB

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 12, 2024

What they're saying

"When you look at a guy like him, that's played the amount of ball he's played, to be a multiple all-conference selection, he's just so freaking smart and he has such a commanding-type presence – but at the same time, he still has kind of a quiet strength about him. It just kind of filters throughout everybody in the room. ... Nobody prepares or approaches the game better than he does, and people watch him and know how it's supposed to look," linebackers coach Archie McDaniel said of Rosiek in the preseason.

Sep 2, 2023; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini linebacker Dylan Rosiek (28) tackles Toledo Rockets quarterback Dequan Finn (7) during the second half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

2025 outlook

Rosiek is one of the straws that stirs the drink for the Illinois defense. He is generally a three-down player, as well as a key playmaker for his unit and a team captain. If Rosiek is healthy – and aside from last year's injury, he has been very durable – he will start, finish among the Illini's leading tacklers and push for All-Big Ten honors for a team that has a chance to make a program-defining run in 2025.

More from Illinois on Sports Illustrated:

Illinois Football 2025 Scouting Report: Outside Linebacker Gabe Jacas

Illinois Football 2025 Scouting Report: Outside Linebacker Joe Barna

Illinois Football 2025 Scouting Report: Outside Linebacker Leon Lowery Jr.

Illinois Football 2025 Scouting Report: Defensive Back Xavier Scott

Illinois Football 2025 Scouting Report: Defensive Back Jaheim Clarke