The Illini will return three starters from last year's line, and there will be an added pressure to preform as Illinois looks to reinvent its offense
Most of Tim Beckman's tenure as head coach from 2012-14 could be described as fixing bullet holes with a band-aid. The Illinois roster was so depleted when he took over, the Illini were so desperate for warm bodies at positions that Beckman and his staff were forced to overuse the JUCO market to have players that were physically ready to compete at the Big Ten level. It's really, really hard to cultivate depth that way.