Illinois' football staff continued to raid the Junior College ranks for players that can help the team right away when offensive lineman Mikey Matelau of Mt.  San Antonio College pledged to the Illini over offers from several high major schools.  Matelau is the 16th rated JUCO player this year and the top-rated interior offensive lineman, but I don't think you'll be seeing Matelau playing on the inside for Illinois for two reasons: First, he's doing a fine job at tackle, and second, he's already on the small side for a tackle in the Big Ten and it would take him a while to build up the size and strength to play guard or center for the Illini.  However, Illini fans shouldn't worry that Matelau can get to the size he's going to need.  He's already been at that size as a senior in high school. You see, Matelau is Mormon and delayed his entry into college in order to go on a mission.  Before he left though, Matelau was a 320 pounder who had roughly the same number of offers from high majors.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

Matelau shows tremendous feet in his highlights from Mr. San Antonio.  He really explodes out of his stance and shuffles his feet like a proverbial dancing bear.  While that tells me that he would do a good job of pass blocking, I can see why others are enamored with his pulling ability and want to treat him as a guard or center.  Matelau is also a bit on the short side compared to what many teams want in an offensive tackle.  However, I don't see that as a problem as long as Matelau has the arm length to deal with pass rushers, and for now I'd say he does.   Matelau also has pretty good hands in that they're quick and allow him to deliver a blow first.  However, I'd like to see more power from him.

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/11604695/68dd67eec727359063015fc1

It was a fun comparison to see Matelau from this past year compared to his high school film, where he looked like a rampaging bull as a 320 pounder running over defenders.  He still had good movement skills, but he wasn't nearly as quick side to side as he is today.

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/11604695/614ccf3e23472d0294a82b14

Still, its nice to know that Matelau has the size potential to get to the 320 pounds that he's going to need to play in the Big Ten.  I would hope that his maturation would allow him to carry 320 pounds in a more athletic and muscular frame than he showed in high school, because he also appears to be a bit out of shape in those high school films.  However, that is a normal issue for high schoolers and I wouldn't worry about it as much for a young man who has already managed to transform his body into a 290 lineman with what looks to be lean muscle.  In fact, I'd say it is clear that Matelau has some room to fill out in his lower body before he starts to compete in the Big Ten.

On the downside, Matelau is playing in that California Association of Junior Colleges that has been such a curse for the Illini in the past.  Its hard to get a handle on whether a prospect is playing well in that league because there are so many non-prospects playing among the guys who are legitimate prospects.  Despite having 34 teams, the league doesn't produce many high major prospects at all.  In fact, as of this writing, only 3 of the top 15 rated JUCO players are from the state of California and Illinois has commitments from two of them.  I would add that some would call Matelau a "tweener" as a lineman given that he has tackle traits and, as of right now, has guard or center size.  Regardless, he's going to need more strength in order to be effective in the most challenging league for linemen.

Where does he fit in?

I'm not going to re-hash the list that I've made with all of the candidates for the three starting spots on the Illini line next year.  Suffice it to say, the Illini staff is aware that they have some big shoes to fill on the offensive line and they've added a lot of large and talented men to compete for those spots.  Instead, I'm going to try to fit Matelau into next year's line.  We know TJ McMillen is going to play center and that Brandon Henderson is going to take up one of the other four spots.  TJ Taylor is going to be in the lead spot for one of the tackle spots, probably right tackle, and Ayden Knapik, if healthy, is the most experienced and talented player the Illini have as a left tackle.  That leaves one spot, and Brandon Hansen has patiently been waiting his turn to take that spot.  Now, unlike last year when you could write our depth chart in pen, every one of these guys' names should be written in either dark or light pencil.  McMillen had a rough go in his only start by giving up an ugly sack despite earning a nice 78 PFF grade.  Henderson made numerous mental mistakes early in the year.  Knapik might be gimpy, and he's making a big jump from the MWC to the Big Ten.  Hansen is the top line prospect that the Illini have had in the last five years, but he was only decent in his first real action this year, earning only a 54 PFF grade.  My first guess at a second string for the non-center positions is Tyler McMillen, who very much looked ready to make the jump to the Big Ten when he transferred in from SEMO.  I've heard a lot of good (and bad) things about Kellen Francis and he too was in the running for a starting job when he arrived from Butler CC until he got hurt.  Zafir Stewart is a mammoth human being with some athletic ability to boot.  He needs to stay in shape so he can be mobile enough, but this is just the situation where players often redouble their efforts and turn a corner in their careers.  Nathan Knapik and Eddie Tuerk, along with Stewart and Francis, were the second teamers who got a few snaps on the o line and are thus the official "second string" for now.  I don't think Tuerk will make it, but Knapik shows some ability and could take over for his brother.

So, add Mikey Matelau into that mix, and I have a hard time seeing him jump into that two deep.  Having played only one year at Mt. San Antonio, Matelau has three year of eligibility left and could also take a redshirt year to get back into power 5 shape and work on his technique.  That's the ideal situation in my opinion.  However, It wasn't all that long ago that the very same situation presented itself but Mel Priestly forced his way onto the field rather than redshirt.  By all accounts Matelau is a very hard worker who will have the right attitude on and off the field so I wouldn't put it past him to start on day 1.  So, I'd like Matelau to join Alfred Washington and redshirt for a year while working on their skills.  Illinois loves to play mature players, so I'd expect that the staff will push both of those young men to do that.  If they do that, give the Matelau addition a 6 on the excitement scale.