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Illinois Football: Illini players stacking up preseason award watchlists

Illinois football displayed one of the best defenses in all of college football in 2022.

The Illini secondary got most of the shine, as we had multiple NFL Draft picks come from this talented group of ball hawks. But the Illinois defensive line was also special.

That talented front three for the Illini featured a player in Calvin Avery who is now in the NFL trying to stick with the Minnesota Vikings. It also featured two of the best defensive linemen this program has ever seen in Jer’Zhan Newton and Keith Randolph Jr.