By Steve Sturm - IlliniGuys Football Analyst

March 10, 2025

If you're a high major prospect who hails from the State of Illinois and you're within driving distance of Champaign-Urbana, you're going to need a moat stocked with alligators to keep Bret Bielema and his staff away.  Casey Thomann of Richland County High School in Olney found that out when Illinois made him a priority recruit as soon as he popped up on the high major radar.  Thomann didn't commit right away, garnering offers from several high majors including Nebraska and Iowa before pledging to the Illini Tuesday.  However, he is going to find a lot in common with several other local recruits when he joins the Illini after signing day next year.

What does he bring to the Orange and Blue?

If you've been reading these articles, you'll know that the first thing I look for is the quality of the competition.  Though tiny Olney (home of the white squirrel, IYKYK) has a population of 8,000 people, the joint school of Richland County is large enough to play in Class 4A in Illinois and the quality of Thomann's competition is strong enough to give me a pretty good idea of his ability.  The first thing I want to say is that Thomann is a genuine athlete.  This isn't just a case of a big kid with an attitude brutalizing the undersized players in front of him.  Thomann actually has good hands and feet and has the burst you want to see in a lineman.  He isn't going to win a lot of 40-yard dashes, but Thomann will certainly hold his own in terms of movement and will be able to handle most pass rushers and execute pulling plays.  The explosion in his lower body is exactly what I like to see as well. And, in case you thought I don't also appreciate his attitude, nothing could be further from the truth.  He's a true lineman in attitude who obviously enjoys putting defenders on their backs.  See for yourself:

http://www.hudl.com/v/2Pu51t

I have some questions about Thomann's true size.  Last summer on the camp circuit, where he did very well, Thomann weighed about 280, and I would guess that he was just around that size during the last season.  However, other news about this commitment show him to already Big Ten sized at 6'7 and 300 or 310.  With a young man like that he could gain 20 pounds in a few months the height might be a bit generous unless his opponents are uncommonly tall for 4A Illinois players.  However, if Thomann is actually 6'7 he's a tough fit at guard and his feet and athleticism will be a stretch at left tackle.  Of course, that could leave him only one position for some teams: right tackle.  We all know that Bart Miller will try to find a way to get his best guys on the field, and he did that when he made Julian Pearl a left tackle despite his questionable feet and athleticism.  With Thomann's good length I could see him doing at least as well as Pearl at left tackle too.  However, I bring it up because I'm betting that the "tweener" issue might have driven Thomann's stock down a bit nationally.

Bear with me, but I need to spend a paragraph on Thomann's stance(s).  I noticed right away that he's not limber enough in the lower body to get into a proper stance, and that results in him often having his head down at the snap with his back actually bending up from his hips and then back down to his neck area.  Obviously, its tough to see what's going on pre-snap when you do that.  However, he makes it worse when he leans back with just the tips of his fingers on the ground on passing downs, which telegraphs to the entire defense what the play will be.  This is hardly the first time a small high school player had a glaring technique issue like that, and its a common "tell" that a lineman doesn't have his entire weight on his down hand when its a pass play, but this was incredibly blatant as his fingertips are basically off the ground as he leans back to see he man on pass plays. I'm sure the Illini staff saw that as quickly as I did though and has several other items for Thomann to work on before he takes the field just as they did any recruit.  I'm going to make a note to see if this is still a problem in his senior film, because I have a hard time believing opposing coaches didn't notice this as well.  Regardless, this is a fixable problem if he works on his flexibility.

How does he fit in?

Though Illinois has often had a hard time finding quality tackles in recent history, the recent surge in quality recruiting has led to greater depth there too.  So, while I'm projecting fellow Class of 2026 Landon Van Seggern as an interior player, Thomann will have strong competition at the outside positions because Illinois loaded up on tackles at the tail end of the Class of 2025 with J.J. Hirdes and Dylan Frechette not to mention Griffin Rousseau, who is a real favorite of mine.  And even then Class of 2024 tackles Brandon Hansen and Zafir Stewart are looming ahead of them.  In the unlimited scholarship era this is becoming a common theme because depth is at an all-time high in the Big Ten.  Just take a moment and think of all the times Illinois couldn't put two quality tackles on the field to appreciate our current circumstances (hint, that was only two years ago, IMHO).

In terms of the rating, I'm sure you've guessed that I think this is a solid addition.  I read that Thomann was a 4* player, but I wouldn't go that far and from what I can see from the other rating services they consistently have him as a high 3*.  I agree with that call.  Thomann is a quality recruit who has an above average chance to develop into a starter at Illinois.  And though I can see why others would limit his rating because of fit, that is less relevant for Illinois with Bart Miller calling the shots.  So, call this addition a 7 on the 10 point excitement scale.