The Wonderful Potential Of Wes Lunt

No, Wes Lunt has not yet made his final decision. He still has his scheduled visit in Champaign today and then itshouldn't be too much longer until we find out how badly he really wants to play for his beloved Illinois Fighting Illini or if he thinks living in Kentucky for a handful of years is a good idea (spoiler alert for Mr. Lunt if he's reading: it is not). I don't entirely know what kind of pitch Tim Beckman and his band of merry men have organized for Wes, but if it doesn't include should close to the following: if you come to Illinois, you could easily leave as the top QB in school history.

Think about that for a second. It doesn't seem entirely possible, right? He only has three years of eligibility to use before he graduates and there is the off chance he might go pro early. But since we're putting the cart ahead of the horse already by running under the assumption he'll choose Illinois over Louisville, we may as well go full bore and say that he'll stay the entire time. According to College Football Reference, the Illini career leader in passing yards since 1977 is my hero Kurt Kittner with a whopping 8,460 yards. That's it. Passing TD? Kittner again with 66. Completions? Jack Trudeau with 736. None of those numbers are particularly impressive by any means.

You might be thinking to yourself "Mark, this is a terrible pitch. Sure, he can easily pass those numbers but those numbers are terrible for a reason! We're Illinois!". And that's cool, if you want to be a jerk about it and stop reading before the all important second part of the pitch is revealed. Yes, it's true that Illinois has produced a mere eight quarterbacks who have thrown for over 5,000 yards in their careers. But in his time as offensive coordinator and head coach at Western Michigan, our new OC Bill Cubit has been responsible for the following QB careers: Tim Hiller (11,329 yards, 99 TD, 1,013 completions), Tim Lester (11,299 yards, 87 TD, 875 completions), and Alex Carder (8,886 yards, 74 TD, and 769 completions). Those are the top three QBs in Western Michigan history. And Carder's numbers would be even better if not for an injured senior season. Yeah, it's only the MAC, but look at what Cubit was able to accomplish with less-heralded (and likely less-talented) players than Lunt.

The Illini offense isn't going to be magically fixed after Cubit's arrival, but by the time Lunt would be eligible, Cubit's system will have become established and his players will start being phased into the offense. It's going to be a process but Lunt would have weapons like Aaron Bailey to work with and could go on to become the best QB anyone has ever seen gracing the blue and orange. Just imagine.

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