One of many high line of defense prospects will certainly be heading to the NFL for the 2024 marketing campaign. Illinois defensive deal with Jer’Zhan Newton informed reporters that he intends to declare for the NFL Draft.
Per ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg, Newton revealed that he gained’t play in a bowl recreation if Illinois lands one of many contests. The Illini can turn into bowl-eligible by beating Northwestern Saturday. Meaning Saturday’s recreation will seemingly be Newton’s finale school look.
“It’s actually necessary for me, attempting to get my teammates yet one more recreation to play in,” Newton informed reporters. “I do know lots of people don’t have careers after this, lots of people gained’t go to the NFL, so simply to have individuals enjoying yet one more recreation collectively as a unit, seeing my workforce play, that may be actually huge for me.”
Newton put himself on the NFL radar following a powerful 2022 marketing campaign. He earned First-Group All-Massive Ten honors after ending the season with 62 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Whereas his numbers have taken a little bit of a dip in 2023, he’s nonetheless been productive, compiling 47 stops, 6.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. The defensive deal with is a candidate for the Nagurski Trophy, awarded to the nation’s high defensive participant.
Newton will certainly hear his identify known as through the first spherical of the 2024 draft, and there’s an opportunity he pushes himself into the top-10 dialog. In a recent ESPN roundtable, Newton landed because the No. 8 total prospect within the draft.
