Illinois
Fighting Illini

Junior Martez Wilson, an athlete so gifted he has been projected as everything from the next Jevon Kearse to a guy who could also play wide receiver in his spare time, moved into the middle prior to spring ball and showed that he should be there when Illinois opens the 2009 season with Missouri in St. Louis.

Wilson's move also seemed unlikely because he lost his starting outside linebacker job late last season because he just wasn't consistent enough. In Illinois' scheme, where the middle linebacker ought to be among the nation's top tacklers each year, there's no room for an inconsistent player who can't read everything before it happens.

Oh, there's one other thing. Wilson also had to make a rapid recovery from an off-campus incident last December when he was stabbed in the chest and back while trying to solve a fight outside a Champaign bar.

"I feel very comfortable in the middle now," Wilson said in the Daily Herald. "I think I'm going to make a lot of plays there."

Wilson showcased the high end of his potential during one of Illinois' spring scrimmages. All-Big Ten playmaker Arrelious Benn tried getting around the left end on a sweep, but Wilson used his 4.5 speed to beat Benn to the sideline and then punished him.

If Wilson can make more plays like that, then he'll take the load off an otherwise inexperienced linebacking corps that figures to have first-time starters at both outside spots. Redshirt sophomore Ian Thomas (4 career tackles) took the lead for one job, while true sophomore Russell Ellington (8 career tackles) has the lead at the other spot.

"We're going to carry our share of the load," Wilson told Gatehouse News Service. "As for the defense, we're young, and we've got talent. Our main thing is coming together and getting chemistry so we can be flying around and having fun."