Iroquois West<\/a> graduate is listed as an outside linebacker on the 2025 roster. The two-time all-academic selection got his first college action during last year\u2019s season opener against Eastern Illinois and now will look to provide depth for an edge and pass rush on a Fighting Illini defense that was 31st nationally in allowing 21.69 points per game last season.<\/p>\nCannon Leonard, Iowa, redshirt soph., OL<\/p>\n
Clayton\u2019s younger brother, Cannon, did not see the field for the 8-5 Hawkeyes as a redshirt freshman last year, but was named the No. 2 right tackle on the team\u2019s depth chart over the spring and figures to make his debut this fall. The 2023 Iroquois West graduate joined his big brother on the Big Ten All-Academic team last year, as the Leonards will now look to add to their on-field resumes as well this year.<\/p>\n
Keagen Trost, Missouri, graduate, OL<\/p>\n
The most seasoned veteran of the bunch, Trost will end his college career in the hallowed Southeastern Conference after beginning at the FCS level with Morgan State in Baltimore. After a 2019 freshman campaign at Morgan State, the 2019 Kankakee graduate transferred to Indiana State, where he started in the trenches for three years after the COVID-19-canceled 2020 season. Trost transferred to Wake Forest last fall, where he saw action in all 12 games between the offensive line and field goal unit for a Demon Deacons team that finished 4-8. The Tigers were a 10-3 program in the SEC a year ago and have their first CFP berth within reach this year.<\/p>\n
![\"Kankakee's](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/5GNQEST5BVCGZH6MVYS2U3QKFU.jpg\")
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Kankakee’s Marques Easley communicates to the offensive line during the Kays’ 39-13 loss to East St. Louis in the 2023 IHSA Class 6A quarterfinal game at Kankakee. (File Photo)<\/p>\n
Marques Easley, Purdue, redshirt fr., OL<\/p>\n
Easley is headed closer to home and into the Big Ten after appearing in two games for the SEC champion Georgia Bulldogs last year. The 2024 Kankakee graduate is one of two former Kays that entered college as four-star recruits, along with Hill. The two will square off at Michigan on Oct. 30. One of five offensive line transfers for the Boilermakers, Easley has a chance to make an early impact for a Purdue team rebuilding after a 1-11 campaign last year. Easley is one of just two members of the offensive line that was a four-star recruit, along with redshirt junior Joey Tanona.<\/p>\n
Jaydon Wright, Louisiana-Monroe, redshirt fr., RB<\/p>\n
Wright, a 2024 Bishop McNamara<\/a> graduate, became the second former Fightin\u2019 Irish player to earn a Minnesota football scholarship, joined by cousin and 2017 McNamara graduate Chris Autman-Bell. After redshirting for his lone season in the Twin Cities, Wright is headed south to the Sun Belt Conference. After a 5-1 start, the Warhawks ended the year on a six-game losing streak to finish the year 5-7 and a game short of bowl qualification. One of five running back transfers for a position group that has just three upperclassmen, Wright has a chance to see sizable action and help ULM to a bowl game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Daily Journal area has seen rising levels of collective prep football success over the past handful…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":126398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[77606,77602,1318,18131,77604,77535,77603,77605,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-126397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-bishop-mcnamara-preps","9":"tag-fnd-kankakee","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-high-school-football","12":"tag-iroquois-west-preps","13":"tag-kankakee-county-front-headlines","14":"tag-kankakee-preps","15":"tag-manteno-preps","16":"tag-ncaa","17":"tag-ncaa-football","18":"tag-ncaafootball","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Illinois'](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ESLSW35FKFFPVKEZYELGNB2ZCQ.jpg\")
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