No Illini Players Taken In 2020 NFL Draft
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- For the third time in the last six years, the Illinois football program did not have a player drafted into the National Football League.
Illinois had defensive end/linebacker Oluwole Betiku, linebacker Dele Harding, running back Reggie Corbin, defensive tackle Jamal Milan, safety Stanley Green and running back Dre Brown all eligible but none were selected among the seven rounds and 255 picks of the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Big Ten Conference had 48 players selected in this year’s draft. Illinois, Northwestern and Rutgers were the only schools in the 14-team league to not have a player taken.
Corbin finished his Illini career with 2,361 career rushing yards, the 12th-most in school history, 18 career rushing touchdowns, and a 6.3 yards-per-carry average (second-best among the 18 2,000-yard rushers in school history).
Betiku, a former five-star prospect who transferred from Southern California, had 36 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, nine sacks (tied for seventh in Illinois single-season history with 9.0 sacks) and seven quarterback hurries on the season.
Milan earned All-Big Ten Conference honorable mention honors by the league’s media this past season as he led an interior defensive line for 27 starts in his Illini career.
Green was a four-year starter at safety and his Illini career ended with 259 career tackles, 10 forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, three interceptions and seven passes broken up.
Brown earned All-Big Ten Conference honors this past season as a kick return by both the coaches and the media. The fifth-year senior had 113 carries, 584 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns, 10 receptions and 82 receiving yards in the 2019 season.
Since 2016, only two Illinois players were selected in the NFL Draft: defensive end Dawuane Smoot in the third round, 68th overall, by Jacksonville in 2017 and offensive lineman Nick Allegretti in the seventh round 216th overall, by Kansas City last season.
Illinois will hope to end the streak of five consecutive drafts without multiple Illinois players selected when they’ll have quarterback Brandon Peters, wide receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe, punter Blake Hayes, linebacker Jake Hansen, center Doug Kramer, left tackle Vederian Lowe and right tackle Alex Palczewski among others eligible for the 2021 draft.