Once upon a time saying he was “ready like spaghetti” for the chance to play quarterback, Coran Taylor will enter the 2021 season as a defensive back.
A three-star recruit out of Peoria in 2018, Taylor hasn’t gotten much time under center with the Illini. He redshirted the 2018 season, appeared in one game in 2019 as a redshirt-freshman, and then got two games of action in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, getting the start against Minnesota.
WIth Brandon Peters returning for a third season in Champaign and former Rutgers starter Art Sitkowski coming in, the odds against Taylor ever becoming the guy for the Illini were slim.